


[ON HOLD] Book 1 | Hibryds

by AlarkiusJay



Series: Hibryds Cinematic Universe by AlarkiusJay [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai, Magic, Multiverse, Novel, Otherworld, RPG, superhero
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28226502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlarkiusJay/pseuds/AlarkiusJay
Summary: Kydel Starr is a Direwolf-Hibryd, a strong and powerful one. Bestowed with an enormous range of powers from Zohl, the Spirit of Hetra, he ventures across the continent of Ueceria in hopes of meeting different races. At first glance of his new world, Kydel was confused about his role, but after some help with friends he made throughout his adventures, he was deemed a notable Hibryd, and a hero.
Series: Hibryds Cinematic Universe by AlarkiusJay [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2067852





	1. Prologue

It was near the last day of the fifth month in the late evening. It was dark out at night--dark enough that fireflies lit up the forest. The sky was full of glittering stars, which could be seen through the forest canopy's gaps. A mystic lure of enchanting music played its way through the wind. The breeze blew into the forest entrance, flying like a swarm of busy bees, blowing past the tall trees that loomed over the grassy field. The cries of wolves could be heard, and crickets began their music, filling the night's emptiness. Now, near the entrance of the forest, drops of blood could be seen. Blood trekked through the forest, leading to a Hetraniean Direwolf. It dragged along its side, limping with a weak leg. Its hide was scruffed, torn, and blistered. The whiteness of the fur was soaked with red and one of its eyes was mildly wounded. With blue eyes, it squinted, making it hard to see.

Limping over the remaining bodies of werecats that laid along on the forest floor, the direwolf began to regain its strength. As the wolf gradually regenerated its wounds at excessive speed, it began to sprint to the last remaining werecat. The wounds were completely healed. As the last werecat was heading toward the forest exit, the wolf lunged forward and took hold of the werecats’ neck with a sickening snap. The werecat shook violently, trying to shake the direwolf off but it was too late. The direwolf began to apply more force as the werecat struggled, turning its jaws into a deadly weapon (known for holding enough strength that the direwolf could almost throw a twenty-pound car into the air). In pain, the werecat squealed and squirmed. Now, with full strength, the direwolf pounded into the ground with its enormous paws, bringing its jaws down even tighter, inflicting pain into the werecat. Shaking violently, the werewolf then tossed the werecat out of the forest. The body of the werecat landed in a nearby lake, blood dispersing through the water. The direwolf howled victorious into the dark, starry night, towards the moon.

After the full fight, the direwolf decided to find a new territory - someplace rather quiet and peaceful, where it couldn’t be seen and where it was dangerously accessible by foot. Scanning the area and sniffing out several scents, the wolf’s nose picked up the scent of enchanted hetra berries up north. Sniffing its way, it passed various sceneries, from the night starry sky to the midst of the rocky mountainsides. One sight, in particular, was near the waterfront that was located along a cliff where greasy, green vines grew. Behind the waterfront, at a very far distance, a tiny pathway became illuminated, which could only be seen very faintly. The whistle of wind echoed among the mountain’s range and made a flute-like whistle as the wolf continued its way. Through the canal it went, the wolf exited and found two cliffs in sight. Along the cliff near the second one, there was a break in the path. In that break, another fountain was visible. On the second cliff, a chain was visible.

The chain led to a floating island in the sky where it hovered over the vast sea. The island also had the scent of the hetra berries the direwolf smelled earlier. Up and onward it goes, the wolf analyzes the path. Getting ready in a stance, it launched forward with incredible speed, powering through and running on the chain to the floating island that is visible at sight. The chain lightly swayed. As the wolf made it, a broken sign appeared that said “Hetrania” but some of the letters were faded and rusted. Without knowing the consequences; the wolf went into the forest on the floating island that looked completely deserted at night. Still not fully recovered from the previous battle, the wolf went to a nearby lake to drink some water. A tender feeling of energy flowed back down the wolf’s body and made its way around.  
All the tiny incapable wounds, blisters, and bruises were healed. As the night and the sky collided, midnight came forth. It was about a quarter after midnight now and in the morning darkness, the wolf marked the floating island as its new territory all around it - with deep claw marks on the trunks of trees and scents of urine. The size was humongous—the island spanned ten miles long and the elevation was measured around thirteen-thousand feet high from the chain connecting the island to the cliff and from the ground below the island. The wolf settled in a den to wait for a day that ought to come. Trickles of the lake can be heard, crickets began to chirp and the sounds of frogs could be heard in the distance. Owls began to fly around, searching for mice and bats to prey on. Owls tagged along for bugs and for some fruit if they were lucky. It was a calm, peaceful, quiet night. 

* * *

  
Near the next morning, after the fifth month and into the sixth, the sun rose from the east around five in the morning. The wolf was awakened by the smell of enchanted hetra berries once again. As the scent continued to grow larger, the wolf followed the trail of the smell. Shiny, purple-luminescent colors of hetra berries hung down from a bending tree north of the wolf’s den near the trickling lake. Examining the berries, the wolf found it safe enough to eat - to replenish his hunger. After filling his stomach up with the nutritious berries, the wolf began to explore his newfound territory. The songs of birds started and the wind flow began to pick up. Wildlife began to spring into action as deer, birds, ocelots, squirrels, and even monkeys roamed over the place. The wolf watched the wildlife scattered into place and the world came alive. Scanning the area, the wolf spotted a cave in the mountains, west of the berries. The sun’s rays of light shone into it and flowing lights were visible from the cave entrance. Curiously, the wolf trotted along the gravel path that led to where the cave was. 

When the wolf reached the cave, it peeked in. Light continued to shine and so the wolf entered—it was a sight to behold. Large amounts of shining—glowing even—water and crystal-like gems shone brightly as the sun’s rays reflected against it. The cave went deeper in until the wolf reached a kaleidoscope-like area where pillars could be seen. At the back center of the cave, a chest, and a prism-like tower became visible. A stone statue appeared on the side, hanging on the wall to the left where it showed a figure of a jacket that had no sleeves to it. It had spike-like cylinders on the belt bulging out of the statue. There were four chiseled pillars in the center arranging in a circle like-pattern. The place seems to have been carved out or been built by someone with great intelligence and skill to make a cave-like kaleidoscope. As the wolf scanned the area it saw nothing else too out of the ordinary, so it walked back to the entrance. But a split minute away, the entrance sealed shut like an elevator door. Startled, the wolf jumped and moved back a few steps. In a running pose, it tried to pound open the entrance, but it stayed shut. It also tried clawing, but that had no effect either.  
Not even throwing a powerful tail-hit made any difference. As it backed away, the wolf was ready for a powerful brutal-tail swing. Curling its tail and hardening it with an iron ability, it pounced forward and delivered a powerful blow. Dust allocated within the air, but when it faded, the powerful swing did nothing at all. No dents or smears, the entrance was just too strong. Fearing what comes next, the wolf surrendered. It walked down the cave’s hallway again to the kaleidoscope. The bright light began to shine and as the wolf walked closer, it noticed the pillars glowing vibrantly. It was a magnificent appearance. 

Suddenly, the glowing light formed into waves and tentacles, flying out and latching onto the wolf. Struggling to get free, more came and subdued the wolf until it couldn’t escape. The wolf howled as the grips began to inflict pain. Dragging the wolf closer to the center, a space like-chamber opened and the wolf was pulled into it. Then, pulses of beats pumped from the bright, glowing chamber. It repeated for nearly four times. Just then, a sudden flash of light brightened the entire place until it possessed the wolf, letting it take control. Afterward, the unconscious wolf fell from the massive cosmic entity that was floating in the center. Then the glowing entity then faded away. Everything was quiet until the entrance opened up. A gust of wind entered into the cave and left as the natural light began to shine in.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up on the floor after being attacked by something strange. The floor was hard and rocky, almost as it gave way from below. I looked around and noticed that I passed out inside a cave--the one that I was currently exploring. A stone statue appeared on the side which looked as if it were next to me. It was hanging on the wall to the left where it showed a jacket that had no sleeves to it. It had spike-like cylinders on the belt bulging out of the statue. Abnormally, I felt a lot stronger than before. Suddenly, a bright shimmering light flashed and turned into a floating spirit. It hovered and magically formed a necklace around my neck.  
  
“A direwolf! How quite pleasant to become a pendant.”  
A voice echoed in my mind. I got startled and jumped as the voice suddenly spoke. Its male-like tone echoed in my mind when it spoke again. Its pendant-like-body is shaped like a water droplet.   
“Oh, excuse me. I’m the Spirit of Hetra. I chose you to become a Hibryd. I reside in the depths of Hetrania and those who approach me will be chosen.”  
“As for now, I will unlock your speech recognition pattern. You will meet someone later if you are beginning to question some disturbances. Excuse me for a moment while I work on your body system _._ ”

A sound from the pendant clicked and pierced through the center of my collarbone below my neck. It grew and implanted into me. I let out a tiny yelp. After the voice faded, I got up on my fours and walked to see that the entrance was opened up. Memories started coming back and I remembered why I came here. I was exploring this island and found a cave. But what even happened back there? I started to doubt. As I walked along the path that led to my den, I noticed crystals that grew out of the ground which held my reflection. I had a scruffy, fluffy mane, puffed out in all directions around my cheeks and neck. I noticed the pendant which bulged out of my collar. A white horn shone on my forehead above my eyes in the center.  
It pointed outward and bent up a bit, looking shiny and sharp. Near my eyes, there were diamond-patterned shapes. It almost looked like I had eyebrows. Black fur like streaks covered over my eyes, which faded as they grew towards my ears. My ears were fluffy like a cloud and my body looked like it upgraded to a powerful system. My bushy, white-gray tail was almost as long as my legs. My snout stayed the same, but my smell feature felt enhanced. I held orange eyes, which looked sharp and intimidating while my own reflection stared back at me, which startled me.   
"Have I always looked like this? _”_ I suddenly spoke. Wait...I SPOKE?! That’s weird. A thought popped up and I remembered the Spirit gave me my speech. I was confused as heck. It said it was the Spirit of Hetra right? Maybe I’ll get some answers later. As I exited the grove where the cave was, luscious scents of hetra berries enveloped my senses. Suddenly, my body acted strangely. It felt like piercing needles.  
“Ouch!” I tried to walk, but my legs wouldn’t allow it. My ears twitched.  
Suddenly, a new surge and flow of energy rushed into my legs. My tail reacted and stretched out like a cat getting scared. Then shortly after, the surge of energy took control and merged with my body. That was probably the Spirit of Hetra working on my body. It said something like that but I was still confused. I let that slide for a bit. Noticing the environment around me while stretching, I recovered my steps and began to run past my den. Each stomp was louder and stronger as I ran to where the chain and the sign were. The sight beyond the floating island was insanely beautiful. I noticed the sign was about to fall and break, so I bit into the sign with my teeth and shook it until it loosely fell out of the ground’s grip. There was also a huge, heavy boulder so I gave it a push. In one strong push, the boulder bolted across the island and out onto the mainland. Luckily the boulder I pushed landed in a huge lake. 

“Looks like I have super-strength,” I said to myself. I tried to read what was on the sign, and I noticed only a few letters. Maybe I can read after all. It read, “Hetran-” but I couldn’t make out the last few letters of the name. The letters below the name were visible.   
It read, “Prohibited Place - DO NOT ENTER.”  
I wonder why it said that.  
“What does that mean?” I mumbled. As I sat down and gazed into the summit and horizon, I began to ponder about what happened. Then I came to a realization that whatever happened in the cave or the `pendant,` must have given me, a direwolf, supernatural-like powers. That would explain how strong my legs are now, how fast I became so suddenly, and how I was able to read. I let out a bark just to see how loud it would be.

“Wooof!” It sounded normal like an animal, so I barked again. This time, it sent a loud shockwave of sound-waves into the distance. Seems like I have hyper-voice. The sound-waves kept going until birds flew out of the trees and yet somehow, they seemed to head in my direction along with other animals that took shelter here. I felt very obnoxious about why they were running towards me. Maybe they became attracted to me since I’m partly a foreign animal on this floating island. Well, it could be. What could go wrong with them chasing towards me at a time like this? 

“It seems like our new hibryd has been born _,_ ” a voice said in the distance, flying towards me. It was a great horned owl, puffed with brown and grey patterns and a short, stubby tail. It was flying wobbly but managed to recover its flight pattern.  
“Who are you?” I questioned and turned my head to an owl who flew to me and perched on my horn.  
“I am Leon, one of the oldest inhabitants of Hetrania,” Leon said, bending his head towards my face. Leon then jumped and flew onto the broken stick which I broke the sign off.  
“Oh my, it seems like the Spirit of Hetra has chosen you.” He noticed as it stood out with vibrant colors. He has one too, but it was between his eyes, centered above. He continued to speak.  
“You must not be from around here. What brings you here, fellow direwolf? _”_ He gestured his wings. I was a little intimidated because of his low voice and his piercing gaze on me. His bright blue eyes reflected and shimmered.   
“Well, nevermind that, you have questions. Your furry face says it. Ask away.”  
  
“Where am I?” I asked Leon, tilting my head like an innocent dog. I also noticed that I have the capability to hear certain languages, so I let him do the talking.   
“You, my friend, stumbled onto this floating island called Hetrania. That pendant you have there has chosen you to become a Hibryd,” Leon flew and perched on my nose. Well, that answers my question about the pendant.   
“You see, what was inside that cave was meant to be sealed off. However, it was activated since this island was interrupted by a foreign animal—it attacked you, so to speak. That’s why it chose you.”   
He leaned in toward me, so I had a hint he was talking about me.   
“But why?” I asked again.   
“Every decade or so, wild animals come to this place, though it’s prohibited. It was either to seek power or become a refuge here. I was one of them. I was given wisdom and guidance.”   
I nodded, telling him to continue. 

“Sometimes, if new animals come, I would be wise enough to guide them. Fellow spectators, please come out of the bushes.” Leon hooted and commanded them. Bushes rustled and each individual came out. Among one of them, four furry and fluffy wild bears ran towards me and bowed in advance. The birds flying flew down and perched on the old broken chair next to me. Some perched on the chain too. They bowed their heads too. An Ox, a deer, a lion, and lioness came out of hiding and did the same thing. 

“Excuse me, but you don't need to bow, really,” I said sincerely with a happy bark. They nodded, howled, and made noises in the sky with their heads up. As they retreated to their places, a few stayed. Leon spoke.  
“These animals recognize you as their new leader. I am far too old by now and I’m about to pass, which you may have been able to sense. Heh, I can barely fly properly anymore. Perhaps I can pass my inheritance to you, young one,” Leon said in a raspy fading voice. I noticed as he started breathing heavily. He gestured and coughed again. Clearing his throat, he continued to speak.  
“There is a country north of this island, on Uexeria (mainland) called Kharphan, Riverchnaut. If you head there, someone may be of help, ” he informed.   
“It’s not very big, but you should fit well there.”  
“Who thereby lives in the city?” I questioned.   
“Humanoid Animals (otherwise known as Hibryds) and Humans. You don’t need to be afraid since they are willing to accept anyone. ” He added. Using my sharp and keen eyes, I looked past the mountain and a scene appeared in black n’ white coloring showing the county with different shapes of buildings.   
“I…. I think I see it,” I said as my retinas opened up. Leon was amazed.  
“I will give you time to think, son.” Leon told me. 

I walked around for a bit and as I reflected on what has happened so far, I thought about Leon’s offer. He’s about to pass away, and his inheritance will go along with him if someone doesn’t accept it… Perhaps I should be the one. I thought about it again while Leon started coughing again. I think I can do this. Then I spoke with generosity.

“I will be at your command, Leon,” I said bowing.  
“I know for a fact that you are well beyond youth, so I will offer up your inheritance as mine.”   
Leon then let out a sigh and laughed. He then perched on the stick once more. He cleared his throat.   
“You need a name, so I shall appoint you one. ”   
“A name?” I questioned. Suddenly, my pendant glowed. Leon noticed and continued.  
“Yes. It’s a unique way to address someone.”  
Understanding what he meant, I nodded. Leon cleared his owl-throat. 

“Ahem! To this day forward, I hereby declare, this young direwolf as Kydel, a citizen of Hetrania.”  
As he continued mumbling the chant, I thought to myself about my name. Kydel sounds unique; it had a cool ring to it. I like it. Then the pendant began to trace the name, `Kydel`. After that, Leon lifted his wings up and made a gesture. He moved his right-wing onto my right shoulder, and then my left. He then clasped both wings like a prayer hand and then onto my head. Suddenly my pendant shone vibrantly in colors that beamed everywhere. The animals in the distance lifted their heads curiously and went to see what happened. When the wild animals gathered, the light continued to shine.   
“I will give my inheritance and wealth to Kydel with an addition of three powers: Morph, Telekinesis, and Restoration. You shall be able to adapt well and communicate with others,” Leon spoke in a loud hoot. As each individual heard Leon’s speech, they began to make noises. As the light faded, a new surge of energy filled my body and the pendant. His appearance started to fade lightly into a soul sequence in the air. 

“Kydel, be safe on your journey,” he said, saying his last words. As he faded, his voice followed. 

Then a yellow light glowed around me, clarifying my existence and my name. My body felt refreshed and clean with a proper name given to me. I howled along with the other animals in the sky in remembrance of Leon. What he has done so far has helped me answer some questions about why I was chosen. As I kept thinking about what had happened, I started to head back to my den while the other animals went back to their places. As I walked, the ground trembled from below which startled other animals.  
A loud mysterious voice spoke from the cave: “PERMISSION GRANTED, Kydel of Leon.” I had no idea what that meant, but I can tell that Leon had stayed here for a very long time. I’m sure something good is meant to happen in the near future. After the minor-calamity passed, I sat and howled at the sky, in mourning for Leon.

My name is Kydel and I’m a Direwolf. 

* * *

Shortly after near the evening, where the sun began to set, some of the other wild animals started to appear in front of me. A large gathering had occurred. Knowing what they might do, I spoke. “Hello, friends.” I smiled. A tiny lion cub came out of the large pack to me and looked at me with eyes of determination. I can tell he looked up to me. “I wanna ride!” The baby lion said, jumping around me while gazing at my strong, gentle body. I sat down and let the baby lion onto my broad back.  
“Hold on tight,” I said to the cub. Since there weren’t any grips on my back for the cub to hold onto, I grew my mane out as a seat using the newfound ability Leon gave me. The tiny cub used its claws to grab on the seated-mane. I started to jump and run around in circles, entertaining the cub while his parents watched. They smiled gleefully. The cub laughed and barked with excitement and joy, entertaining him as he gripped harder onto my mane. I snuck in a smile. This may be a fun night for all of us _._  
“Go higher! Higher!! ”The cub shouted with glee. I laughed and chuckled and the cub joined along. The tiny cub continued to laugh and I jumped, the pendant’s voice inside my head announced something.

The pendant spoke, “Skill acquired: Telekinetic Flight.”

As I made a final jump, I launched into the air and flew while I kept my legs running. The cub was even more amazed than before and the animals below were mesmerized. They began to make noises.  
“Mister, mister! We’re flying! ” The cub happily barked as I flew even higher. As we both looked down on the flat, expanding land, the sun had set which let out a purple, pink illuminating flow of light. The cub yawned.  
“Now that’s what I call a beautiful moment,” I said to the cub. The cub didn’t respond, so I assumed the cub passed out, sleeping on my back. So I made my way down to the ground gently where his parents were waiting.  
“Apparently, this young cub passed out while he had so much fun.” I smiled while I told the parents as I returned their cub to them. They smiled in return.   
“Our kid hasn’t had enough fun now that Leon has passed. Thank you for everything.” The father said. The mother held out her paw.   
“We are this island’s pact and troop. Anything that goes wrong will be under our protection _._ ” The mother said. I understood since Lions are at the top of the hierarchy. I held her paw, agreeing to their terms. The morphed mane seat I took shape returned into my scruffy mane.   
“All praise our new Leader, Kydel!” The father lion spoke. Each animal made a sound in accordance with me as the island’s new apprentice. It was near midnight, and all the animals went back to their places, sounding safe and sleeping happily. I stood near the cliff and sat on my rear. I looked at the bright, beautiful moon that shone in my eyes. As I reflected on what happened earlier, I took an oath for Leon.

“I will keep my word, Leon.”

* * *

  
Near the early morning, on the second day of the sixth month, it was around five when the sun kept rising from the east. The sun’s rays shone in all directions throughout the spanning island and peeked through the tree's tiny gaps between the leaves. As the sun continued to show off its coolness, I woke up in my den of the warmth of the sun’s rays. Yawning, I exited my den where the rays of light came from and stretched like a dog, sticking my rear up in the air, waving my tail freely around. I sniffed the air, smelling different scents of berries and wildlife. My stomach made a noise. I supposed I could go for a meal or a snack. As I continued exploring the floating island, I stumbled upon a gushing waterfall, located on a small mountain that flushed down into the lake next to me. Tiny sprinkles of water droplets hailed lightly over my body as each splash made a huge impact. I noticed some fish swimming in the lake as my stomach made noises again. I sat next to the edge of the lake, waving my tail. As my stomach continued to make noises, I morphed my tail into a stretchy spear and gutted a fish that swam close to me. Apparently, I gutted two at the same time as I retracted my tail-like spear before it turned back into my fluffy one. I placed the fish on the ground and roasted them with my hot, fiery breath. I then chomped down into my meal.  
  
After my delicious meal with the fish I ate, I jumped over the lake onto the other side where earl-grey trees are. I noticed a gravel path, so I followed where it led to. Birds began to chirp and crickets jumped around the shrubs. The sounds of cicadas buzzed and as the gravel path faded, I came across an old abandoned mill that didn’t work anymore. The door was broken and an old barrel was deformed to the right of the mill. The hay to the left was rotten and flies flew wildly around it like a stack of horse dung. I poked my snout in the broken door and sniffed the area. Nothing. It had a bland smell and had no taste at all. Near the old broken mill, there was an opening view of Mainland Uexeria and the vast sea below, which expanded to the horizon. A bird, more specifically a parakeet, flew down and perched on a stack of unused anvils that were rusted and old. I noticed the bird right away since it came to the gathering that one time where it perched on the chain.  
“Hi there, Kydel! _”_ The parakeet said, twitching his head.  
“Call me Kane! _”_ Kane was fidgety a lot, and his body shone brightly with vibrant colors of yellow, blue, and green.   
“Hi, Kane!” I said as Kane flew and perched on my horn, just like how Leon did.   
“It’s quite a view, isn’t it?” Kane said, staring into the distance. I stared too as the sun shone brightly as its rays hit the ground and bounced up into my eyes.   
“Yes, it’s quite something,” I said as the sun continued rising. It was around ten in the morning when our shadows moved due to the sun. Kane kept me company as we continued exploring the island. Along the path we were on, a huge mountain loomed over us in the distance. The mountain’s shadow hovered over us, passed the tree's shadow and absorbed most of the sunlight. We both went on the stone path that led up to the mountain’s peak where little snow began to melt and droop from the sides. Kane and I both started chatting about what comes next.  
“So, now that you’re like our `Leader,` what are you going to do afterward?” Kane asked as he flew around me. Kane’s voice was high-pitched, sort of like a cat meowing.  
“Before Leon passed, he said I should go to a city on the mainland of Uexeria called Kharpan. The city resides in Riverchnaut,” I said.  
“Have you been there before Kane?”   
Kane tilted his head to the question I asked. 

“Riverchnaut eh? It’s quite something, and I think you should go too _!_ ” Kane cawed. Taking up his advice, we both made it through the rocky terrain on the mountain. We approached a canal, with tall-high walls surrounding us. Rumbles and shattered pieces of rocks piled together in a heap. Old, rusted cracks started to form as I stepped on a pebble.   
“Ouch!” I barked as I sat down. I lifted my paw and Kane used his beak and pulled a tiny rock out of it to stop the pain in my paw.   
“That’s one hella rock _!”_ Kane exclaimed. As Kane had the rock lose, he threw it up in a random direction. “I wouldn’t do that...” Before I could finish my sentence, the tiny rock Kane threw hit a boulder resting on a ledge close to us. “Oops!”Kane tweeted. The boulder wiggled and began to fall on our path, rolling towards us. Shocked, Kane flew higher and avoided the boulder while I ran the opposite of where we were headed. The boulder sped up since the path we were on was an incline.

“HEY! Can’t you just help me?!” I barked at Kane as the boulder began to roll towards me. 

“Now’s your chance to prove that you’re a loyal _leader!”_ Kane sang, flying right beside me. Kane was right. I didn’t fully prove my loyalty to him yet or the other animals who think of me as one. I need to prove my loyalty! As Kane watched me run, I had no choice but to smash that boulder into pieces. I ran faster ahead and skidded on the ground to stop while I turned into the direction that the boulder came from. _I guess I have no choice._ As the boulder followed into my path, I ran at the boulder using my horn as a weapon as it morphed into a pointy position facing outwards. As I launched forward with my strong legs, I pushed my horn into the boulder and it shattered into pieces. The boulder exploded, crumbled, and shattered into tiny rocks that fell from the collision. The sound echoed in the valley of the path we were in and Kane was impressed. As the rocks slid down the path behind us, I fell and landed on my fours. My horn remained intact since it was very strong and sturdy. It felt weirdly durable.  
“Bravo! Bravo! You certainly are a Leader! A powerful one!” Kane tweeted as he flew back to me.   
“Well, it’s the least I could do,” I responded as we recovered our path. 

Somewhat past in the distance, we made through sharp turns and abrupt edges, passing through various areas of the mountain. It was around noon once we were at the peak. We looked and gazed out at the never-ending landscape of the horizon and the expanding forest land. The peak of the mountain was filled with life. Green patches of fresh grass grew out of the rocks, water flowed down and out of the mountain range, which turned into a waterfall off the east ledge which I saw where I ate my meal before coming here. Grassy rocks covered the area, coated with wet snow that was about to melt. I made prints in the wet snow and Kane made webbed toe prints. Kane flew around in circles while I chased him around until my rear foot messed up the prints we made in the wet snow.   
“Crap! Our prints!” I barked sadly. The wet snow was no more.   
“The snow will come back when Winter comes.” Kane pointed out as we went back down to where we came from. I chuckled and a grin grew on my face.  
“Race you down!” I said as I got a head start.  
“Hey! Wait for me _!_ ” Kane shouted. I ran down the slopes and turns of the mountain with stupendous speed. From above, Kane dived like a peregrine falcon in the air ranking much faster than a cheetah. I ran past the once-was-known boulder, the open view, and through the canals of the mountain while Kane sped up with its wings tucked in. _Crap, he’s gaining speed!_ I suddenly had an idea. I turned my tail into an iron-like whip and began to pound into the ground to give more extra mobility and speed but that didn’t do as Kane was almost at my tail’s length. Then, I had another idea; propelling my tail like an inverted fan. I flapped my tail in a circle, gaining wind and speed while it helped speed me up.   
“ _Hey!!_ ” Kane gasped as he watched me gain speed.   
“So what?! Hahaha!” I smirked and yelled.   
I kept my pace, reaching down the bottom of the mountain. The faster I went, the more speed I gained. While tailing me from behind, Kane started to gain more speed while turning like a corkscrew which enhanced his drop speed. Now we were evenly paced. The exit of the mountain began to appear and as we fought with speed, I jumped into the air and dove down just like Kane. While Kane passed under me, I used my tail to give a powerful swoop in the air, letting me do consecutive front rolls which made me pass the exit and land on my feet while Kane had almost reached the exit within thirty feet away. Kane skidded in the air and stopped right outside the entrance where we came from at the start.   
“Yo…..you….” Kane freaked out/   
“...outmatched me!”  
I laughed as Kane flew right onto my head panting for air.  
“That part where you flew in the air … was … AH ….AMAZING!” Kane cawed and twittered. With lots of energy wasted, we decided to go back to the Henge where I departed from the morning. On the way back, we ran into a small river which gave us supporting nutrients to fill our energy. We passed by the old mill we came from before and onto the gravel path. The scenery was amazing yet again. We kept following the gravel path and stumbled upon the river I got my meal from before. I jumped over it while Kane flew over. Trees began to show and it’s canopy-covered over us. We walked for quite a bit but once the opening was there, we were back right into the Henge. Most of the other animals welcomed us back while some stayed in their habitats. One of them, a reptile; Komodo Dragon.  
"How long do you plan to stay with us?"  
It’s gleaming eyes shone brightly. I thought about it, but I honestly don't know. I replied with a second-guess.   
"Probably within two months. Though I want to explore a place called ‘Riverchnaut’ that Leon recommended me to visit." That said, I do indeed want to visit the place since Kane also said that it was interesting. Then some thoughts began to form in my mind.   
"Why is the city so interesting?" I asked him. Kane flew around before coming up with an answer. He then perched on a branch next to me.   
“Well, for one thing, it's got plenty of scenic views and interesting people to meet," Kane replied as he used his beak to itch his wing.  
"You'll probably find a friend there!" He added. I thought to myself that it would be a good chance to expand my friendship. Heck, I might as well do it! After the commotion slowly grew down, I went back to my den and slept for a bit after what happened today.   


I woke up a tad bit later while the sun was about to set. It was nearly five in the afternoon, heck it wasn't even in the afternoon, it was somewhere near the evening. Out in the distance, I heard Kane chatting with some of his pals in the air flying around in circles before they flew in a formation `H`. In agreement, Kane flew back to me to talk about something.   
“What’s up?” I asked Kane as I saw him a bit happy but somewhat down. Kane flew and perched on the wooden stick sticking out of the log.  
“So, I talked with my Flockers that we’ve decided to fly south to get more warmth and food. I’m sad to say that we’re going to be parting since you’re going to Kharpan, which is north of here,” Kane said. His eyes drooped a bit. “You’re departing after two months, I’m migrating today!” He whined. He became a little sad about parting from me and his other animal-friends but I nudged him with my nose a few times to cheer him up. He used his wings and hugged my snout. I laughed as he started to flutter in the air.   
“Don’t worry about that,” I said gleefully.  
“Maybe we might run across each other one day.” 

Hearing that, Kane lifted his mood. He tweeted in response and flew back to his flock, flying South of here. Once he was out of sight, I spent my time chatting with other animals by getting to know them. Most of the animals I talked with discussed my role as a leader, along with the lion pride whom I met back then. They wanted to see me prove my loyalty as a leader before they confirmed it. I let them follow me to a tiny lake and showed them what I could do. I used my tail and swooped the water up, creating a sprinkled waterfall. I happened to gut some fish and they laughed. They were pleased with my power. While that happened, the sun gradually set and time began to play with us. Once the sun sets, the moon rises. 

The moon sets and the sun rises again in an endless, timeless journey.


	3. Chapter 3

…....Days have passed, then weeks, only till I noticed that it's been two months that I've stayed on this isle, Hetrania. So much has happened in the past few months: gaining powers, being appointed to a leader by Leon, learning how to control my new body, and making friends. I thought it would be a good idea to stay for a while to cope with everything that I have experienced. Nothing less expected to be a direwolf--gaining such popularity, hah. Most of my friends I hung out with came to see me off to Kharphan, Riverchnaut. Since I have powers, I wouldn’t want to waste it on such a long trip, so my friends saw me off once we got to the chain I came from before. There was another chain leading north, so I went by it.  
“Have fun ...and visit us when you can!” The pack of animals shouted at me.  
I laughed as I dashed off onto the chain and onto the cliff it was attached to. I gazed back and barely saw them waving and jumping. I never thought I would part away from them like this. But since my mind was made up, I waddled down the slope, onto the mainland of Uexeria  
I asked the Spirit of Hetra what month and day it was.  
“As of right now...it is August 4th, 2022, ten in the morning,” The Spirit responded.  
I let out a sigh. As I made my way down, I looked up and gazed at Hetrania. Floating with multiple old rusting chains descending from, it gradually made the sunlight disappear as I walked before it. The breeze blew under and through the stone-like forest canopy of the isle. The wind made my fur a mess. There were many critters that liked the shade. A frog jumped up from a rock and snakes slithered on the ground. Suddenly, my stomach growled. I probably haven’t eaten yet. As I scavenged the area for food, I came across a plant growing Earthened Mushrooms and Luminescent Apples. I made sure they were edible by asking the Spirit of Hetra. It answered back that they were good to eat. I picked the juiciest ones based on scent and chowed down into my meal. Shortly after that, I began to ponder about the pendant’s name.

“Hey, Spirit, Do you have a name?” I asked it. It glowed to my question.  
“Yes, I do,” It responded.  
“My name is Zohl _.”_  
“Well then, it’s nice to meet you, Zohl,” I replied.  
“Right back at ch’ya!” Zohl responded back happily

As I continued to take my time down the path, the sunset. Illuminating radiance of purple shone everywhere even through the smallest cracks of the forest canopy next to me. It’s a long walk, so I suppose I could use some breaks. I found a small rest area right after I fully passed under the huge floating island. It was located near an old campfire site which did not work anymore. There weren’t any trees there and it was out in the open space next to some wild berries. The sun died down and night began to take place as I walked around in circles and then settled down for the night. As I gradually let my body rest, the sounds of each cricket chirping singing into my ears. The croaking frogs jumped and did the same. The wind played to the beat as they flowed through the forest and exited out the other side. Owls began to wake up, in search of food, as they graciously hooted against the cold, brewed night. 

* * *

As the sun rose again on the fifth day of August, I woke up instantaneously. Something must have woken me from my relaxing slumber, which actually did. A month-old squirrel kept poking my leg as if it were scared or needed help. As I yawned, I showed my sharp teeth to intimidate the baby squirrel but the squirrel was not scared of me. Though it was very bold and brave to approach a higher race in the Hibryd kingdom. I blinked my eyes to relax my muscles. I slightly got up and let the squirrel onto my scruffy mane.

“Hi there, little one. What is your need for help?” I asked. As the baby squirrel popped out of my mane, it squeaked. I told my name to the little squirrel.   
“I lost my mama! Help me find her Kydel! I know she is worried!” The tiny squirrel said, trembling in fear. As I felt the shaking vibrating onto my body, I got up and offered help.   
“I’ll help you. I’m heading to a county up north,” I said as I accepted his offer.  
“I assume you and your mother are migrating in the same direction, hm?” The squirrel nodded as he washed his paw and cleaned his head with it.  
“Alright then, let’s get going.” The squirrel squeaked happily.   
I spent my time venturing with the tiny squirrel, keeping it in my sight whenever there might be danger coming. We both came across some healthy herbs and ate some. The squirrel played with my fur which didn’t hurt me much. I then asked Zohl about what time my destination to Kharphan will be. It responded and said around four. Right now, it’s ten in the morning, so I should be able to get away by asking the squirrel some questions to help him find his mom. 

“How did you get lost?” I asked as the squirrel sat on my horn.   
“My momma was carrying me on her back until she jumped to a branch from a very long distance! I couldn’t hold on!” The squirrel responded as memories began to form.  
“I fell from a high place and almost got into danger! Some snakes appeared and I barely escaped!” It used its tail and wrapped it around his tiny body.   
“Oh no, that sounds terrible!” I said, I felt empathy for the tiny squirrel.  
“Maybe things will speed up if I run faster to find your mother.” Agreeing to terms, the squirrel dove into my puffy mane and stayed there for the time being as I launched and ran up the straight and curvy paths. I morphed my mane into a furry seat and let the squirrel sit in it while he gets to enjoy the wind flowing past.  
“I made a seat for you to sit in, Rel,” I said to the squirrel as I made a name for him for the time being. Rel scurried onto the seat.   
“Wheeeee!” Rel squeaked as the wind brushed passed him and my fur. I asked Zohl what time it would be if I ran to my destination. It glowed and responded.   
“Possibly around one in the afternoon _._ "  
I smirked. While I kept running, Rel and I both took a break and settled for some water. There was a tiny spring next to the path we were on. We settled down for a bit and then continued. Along the pathway to the north, a sound of a sharp whistle pierced both Rel’s ears and mine. It was coming near the forest, somewhere in the trees. I skidded to a stop. The sound kept going for quite a while shifting positions. Suddenly, Rel squeaked and jumped off my back. He started scurrying around, listening to the sound of the sharp whistle. It kept going for a while for around three minutes until my ears started to hurt. A rustle in the trees sounded. Rel, who was standing, stared into the trees. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked Rel who was sniffing the air.  
“I can smell mommy!” Rel squeaked. Suddenly, the whistle stopped.   
“Mom?”   
Rel started to make chirping sounds while running against the tree roots, sniffing the air each time he landed on one. Near the fourth tree, Rel was at, a squirrel darted out. It was his mom. I found a patch of grass and sat down.   
“Oh, sweetie! You had me worried!” His mom hugged her little one.   
“Where have you been all this time?” Rel squeaked and ran towards me.  
“This huge wolf, Kydel, helped me come find you!” Rel explained. He ran all over me, excited. I was happy for him. Being reunited with his mother is so pure, my heart melted to pieces. It would be impossible to be alone, separated from the one who is still taking care of her little one.   
“Thank you, noble one for going your way out of this.” The mother said to me, “Yes, thank you!” Rel added. I snorted and laughed. I responded.   
“Haha, no worries. I was going in the same direction as you guys. This happened to be a minor incident.” I got up as I stretched my legs. Rel’s mother climbed over me and touched me in various places I did not expect. It felt weird, but it seems like something a mother would do to her own child.  
“Oh my, how very loyal you are. A gracious body, yet so powerful!” The mother said while she was spoiling me.  
“You seem very well like a leader!”

“Thank you for your kind words," I replied to the mother's compliment.   
Then, the wind began to pick up and the sun shone brighter. As Rel and his mother regrouped together, they greeted me off.  
“Thank you!” They both responded. I waved them off as I trotted north again. They both disappeared from my sight as I looked back into the forest. I began to run again, using my remaining time to get to Kharphan faster. 

* * *

“Hey, Zohl, how many more?” I asked.  
“You’re almost there! It’s 12 in the afternoon right now” Zohl chimed in. Alright, time to get there on time! As I continued running, a pole appeared with a sign which said, ‘Kharphan, 3.5 Kilometers.’ This will be a breeze, considering how fast I am running. Without controlling my speed, a light suddenly flashed ahead which blocked my vision. I halted to a stop and heard the voice of humans running towards me.  
“Unknown Subject traveling at 105 miles per hour! HALT!!” As they caught up to me, I panicked and started slowly backing up while the bright flash was still on.  
“I-I-is that a d-d-direwolf?!” One officer said in fear as they approached me. They chatted and mumbled among themselves in a group for quite a bit. I couldn’t hear anything other than mumbling and a slight sense of confusion. They then turned around to me and said some more.  
“I couldn’t believe my eyes!” one officer said. A few other officers noted and nodded their heads in advance. One dropped his cigar in disbelief and a few others started to question my abilities and powers that I might contain.   
“No creature like you should be able to travel this fast! That’s impossible!” another officer exclaimed. Another slight confusion grew in their faces as they questioned my speed. They looked at each other and gazed at me, then back again as they shrugged.

“Who are you and what are you?”  
They assumed that I could speak, so I responded to their confusion. 

“I’m Kydel, a Hibryd and a direwolf. You should be aware there are other Hibryd species living on this planet.” They were surprised and amazed when I responded. They didn’t expect me to speak their language though. Suddenly, the light behind me turned off and an older officer walked out from behind.   
“Yes, we are aware of that. But we never knew someone or something like you existed!” someone said as they approached me. As I turned around, he had a badge on his left shoulder, so I assumed he’s the head of the station. Carlton had a rough build, standing nearly 6 '5. I chuckled to myself.  
“Yes, I do exist,” I laughed. The officers laughed too, at my sarcasm and the joke. Then, one of the officer’s watches rang since the alarm was set to one in the afternoon.  
“Sir, we need to be back there, like right now.” One officer alerted me. Receiving the heads up, Officer Carlton gestured to his crew.  
“Heh, anyways, sorry for the intrusion. I’m Officer Tim Carlton, and this is my squad.” Officer Carlton said as the laughter died down.   
“I’m Kydel. Charmed to meet you.” I replied. Officer Tim wanted to shake but we quickly noticed the joke as we all laughed at it while we shook it off. Before I realized, I was at the gate of Kharphan.   


* * *

  
As Officer Carlton escorted me into Kharphan, he asked me a few questions regarding my venture and why I came here in the first place. That’s his role as an officer. As we made our way into the station, his other members went back to their cubicle to resume their paperwork.   
“So, what made you come here to Kharphan, Riverchnaut?” He asked as he helped me to some water. I drank it in one sitting with my tongue morphed into a straw-like instrument. I wasn’t in trouble since there was a little misconception back there. As I gulped down my hydration I spoke up.   
“Oh, I heard from a friend of mine that there’s a place to register to become a legal Hibryd citizen. He said this was it.” I responded. I began to think about morphing into a human Hibryd. Officer Carlton spoke up as it reminded him about the same place I was informed about.   
“Ah yes! You’ve definitely come to the right place, but not this office station,” he said as he showed me outside and pointed to where I needed to be. He pointed south, opposite of where this station is facing. I closed the door behind me using my tail while trying to be polite without making a fuss. I kept my second thought a secret from Carlton. 

“If you follow the sidewalk near Kentucky’s and make a left, there will be a big red-yellow sign that says, ‘Hibryd Citizen Registrar Office’ at your right. The person behind the office is Erick Huffle. He should be able to help you,” He informed me. “Something on your mind there?” He added as he noticed that I drifted off to my second thought. I did pay attention to his directions so I responded. 

“Indeed I do. Thanks for the directions though,” I barked.  
“There is something I do need to do though.” Carlton tipped his hat and responded back.  
“Yes, what is it?” he asked as he opened the door back to the station as we went in.  
“Do you have a spare vacant room in your station? I’ll try to shapeshift into a human Hibryd.”   
He gestured as a yes and showed me the way to the vacant room. The room was under the stairs to the left of the station labeled as `empty`. He unlocked the door and opened it for me. I said thanks in return.  
“Also, if I appear naked, I’ll give a knock, so bring me something to cover up later,” I added as he gave me an okay signal.  
“I’ll wait by my desk, which is against this room on the outside. There’s a mirror inside by the way,” he said as he went to his desk. I closed the door behind and began to talk to Zohl. As Carlton went back to his room next to the stairs, all his officers stared at him. 

“What?” Carlton said as he stopped to look at them.  
“Did Carlton just let in a Hibryd for the first time?!” All the officers cooed as Carlton hid his embarrassment while he went to his room rummaging through his boxes to find an extra piece of clothing. 

Back in the room, I spoke to Zohl.   
“Hey Zohl, is it possible for me to gain a Hibryd human form?” I asked. He shone in response.  
“Yes, it is possible. Do you wish to proceed?” As I thought about it, I came to terms and agreed.  
“What features from your current form do you wish to have as a human?” Zohl added.  
“Just the ears,” I requested.  
“Also, keep the eye color.”

“Alright, processing information and transformation,” Zohl said.   
As I sat like a dog waiting for its reward, Zohl shone brightly in vibrant colors that covered my whole body. I started to notice my body taking shape. I closed my eyes and let the process begin. Each light shaped my body, first with my hind legs. My hind legs became human legs. Then my body started to glow. Emitting massive lighting, my animal body began to take shape into a human body, excluding the tail. As I straightened out my back, I stood up like a human with my two legs. Then the light faded off from my body and onto my front legs and toes. They started to take shape as my front legs became human arms and my toes as hands. Last was my head. As the light transitioned up, it formed my neck and my head. My snout became shorter and shorter, turning into a nose.  
My face became round and flat, just like how Carlton looked, but a different style. My eyes are positioned above my nose, eyebrows above my eyes. My eye colors are still the same -- orange. My ears were left the same as before, but they were angled near the top of my head. Then my hair started appearing as all the light began to fade. My hair turned into various colors before turning to a light-brown color. I opened my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like a cute cloud, but more ferocious. Uh, take that away, not ferocious. I stood around 5’5. I looked more like a chillaxed gentleman. Curiously, I looked down and I noticed that I did not have anything down there. I screamed internally. I asked Zohl what gender I am.

“You are genderless. But if you ask me, I can make a p-” I cut off Zohl.  
“I’m fine the way I am, thanks though.”  
The room became silent.  
“I was just joking……” Zohl said quietly. I sighed. But on the bright side, I’ve now achieved a human-like form only with my eyes, ears and tails remaining the same as before. 

“Why am I genderless?” I asked again.  
"You were configured genderless when you were abruptly taken in by the binding light back on Hetrania. I can't do anything about that, even now. It's too late to change your gender," Zohl explained. I felt bummed but I'll have to make do with it. 

_…..Meanwhile:_  
Carlton found his past fashion style. It was a fluffy brown leather cloak with straps and buckles on the shoulders, waist, and arms in particular `V` and `X` patterns along with stripe designs. The cloak had pockets on each side. He also found black comfortable jeans that are cotton on the inside and one gray undershirt. He sat down in his chair and waited.

_Back in the room..._

“Let me morph into a necklace. This looks weird _,_ ” Zohl said as I noticed in the mirror. Yes, it does indeed if you look at it that way. Zohl began to form stainless iron strings from its top corners and around my neck. Zohl became a proper necklace. It popped out and showed an indent in my skin. Zohl has a clip on the back of its flat surface. I assume I can clip Zohl back into place if I ever need to do something.   
“You can clip me back whenever,” Zohl said, bouncing off my chest a couple of times.  
“Ooo, I can float!” I guessed right about the clip. Overall, I felt happy about my transformation, so I knocked on the door to let Carlton know that I finished. As he opened the door, he looked, reacted and shouted, walking in the opposite direction.   
“Hoooly smokes!” he shouted as his hands reacted. The door was left open and I stood near the entrance, making a bland reaction.   
“It’s that bad, isn’t it?” I asked him as he walked back.   
“Surprise?”  
He gave me the old clothes he found.   
“It’s just…...rare to see a genderless Hibryd!” He exclaimed mysteriously.  
“NAKED!”  
I shrugged and made a gesture.  
“The more you know!” I said with a smirk. I went back in and put on the clothes Carlton gave me. It looked like I was living in 2010.  
“I didn’t know you had this pizzazz style when you were young, Carlton!” I shouted from the room. He hid his embarrassment once again. I then looked at my pants and noticed that they fit loosely so I asked Zohl something.

“Want me to modify your cloak too?” I replied back with a yes. Zohl started lasering the design and removing some parts. I could feel the heat of the laser moving everywhere while most parts are forming magically. Once it was done, I looked in the mirror. It had a sleek design: brown, slanted clips, a waist tightener, wrist tightener, a collar strap, and decorated zippers. The hoodie was gone, but oh well. I moved positions to check if there was anything else to modify but it seems like there doesn’t seem to be any.   
“Lit,” I said to myself, patting my clothing clean. As I walked out, I suddenly felt gazes on me. Each officer looked at me, including Carlton.   
“What a mysterious figure,” the officers in the prescient said. I waved my hand at them. _Mysterious_. I like the tone of that. Carlton noticed the new design like it looked brand new to him   
“How did you manage that design?” He asked me, curiously.   
“My buddy here Zohl, did all the work,” I replied, showing Zohl’s magical pendant body off as she floated in the air.   
“Officer Timothy John Carlton of the KEPD. Hello,” Zohl said, spitting out his full name. Carlton jumped and asked me how in the world I afforded the Spirit of Hetra, which was a well-known myth for them.

I let out a sigh.  
“It’s a long story.” As I made my way back to the front of the office near the doors, Carlton saw me off.   
“Thanks for everything, Officer Carlton,” I said, shaking his hand properly this time.   
“No problem!” He said laughing.  
“It’s great to meet different kinds of Hibryds!”  
I laughed along. As I said bye to Carlton, I went ahead to the Hibryd Citizen Registrar Office. It wasn’t a very long walk. The sounds of people working and chattering filled my ears as they proceeded to their usual pace. The air was filled with different scents. Kharphan looks amazing, with small to medium buildings trying to overtake each other in height. As I saw Kentucky’s, I followed the sidewalk for quite a bit until I saw the red-yellow sign. My tail wagged excitedly. The Registrar Office looked bold standing out in color, making it very noticeable. It stood out in the open. I opened the door to the place and a voice welcomed me.

“Welcome to the Hibryd Citizen Registrar Office.” A voice said over the counter. Warm air flew in as I walked through the entrance to the counter. The warm air was made with the AC ventilation system. There are multiple chairs pressed against each wall and people walking in different directions. I skimmed to the counter where the clerk was standing. He stood around five feet, brown hair, a top hat, a mustache, and a monocle.   
“Erick Huffle?” I asked the receptionist.  
“I was referred to this place by Officer Carlton.” He gestured his hands and went to get something from the cabinet from behind. As he came back to the counter, he handed me some papers.   
“Yes, I am the Erick Huffle,” he said.   
“I would assume you’re here to register as a citizen?” I overlooked the papers and saw they were documents for transportation, legal information, and other confidential information.  
“Yeah,” I answered. Erick handed me a pen.   
“Well, you’ve come to the right place! It was good of Officer Carlton to show you the way here. Not many Hibryd citizens come around this time of the year,” he replied.  
“If you fill out the application in a few minutes, I’ll overlook it when you’re done. I’ll process it and validate it. I’ll give you your ID later.”   
“Thanks!” I said as I went to sit down near the bush decoration which was next to the entrance. The hallways were busy and loud, so I found somewhere quiet to fill out the application. I asked Zohl since it seems to know me better than I know myself. 

“Hey Zohl, can you scan this application? Leave the signature blank.” I asked. Zohl responded and floated. Zohl then used it’s light to scan the application filling out various forms about me. Only my first name was shown but not my last.  
“Would you like a surname, sir?” Zohl asked.  
“Sure,” I said as I thought about one. While Zohl was waiting for an answer, I looked around for some inspiration. Though nothing came to mind as I tried to formulate some words.   
“How about Starr??” I asked. Zohl’s light confirmed and scanned it into the box. My name was Kydel Starr. That fits perfectly. I left the middle name section blank. My height showed as 5 '6 in the box under my name. The place of origin was from Hetrania, which is in the field text left of my name. As Zohl finished scanning, I overlooked my information. There was a field missing that had a ‘race’ option so I picked up the pen. As I clicked the pen to show it’s ink tip, I tried to write on a spare piece of paper attached to it. I tried to write, but I noticed I wasn’t equipped with that function. 

“Um...I don’t have the ability to write yet,” I said as I drew squiggles. Zohl chimed in.  
“My bad _,_ ” Zohl responded as it floated back into the indent underneath my shirt.   
“Configuring alphabetical writing analysis mode.”  
My hands and eyes began to glow as the configuration was implemented into my brain.  
“You should be able to write now. Give it a test _._ ” 

As I continued doodling on the spare sheet of paper, I wrote some letters and dribbled a bit. It worked. I then filled out the race field and noted that I’m a Hibryd and also a direwolf. As soon as I added my signature at the bottom, I let Zohl scan a copy into its core database. I got up and gave the filled application back to Erick.   
“Ah, your back.” He said as I handed him the papers. He overlooked it from his end. He clicked his tongue a couple of times. As he finished he asked me a few questions that weren’t on the paper.   
“This seems legitimate. I noticed that in your possessions that you have the Spirit of Hetra, Zohl, right?” He asked as he noticed Zohl floating around.   
“Yes,” I responded back. He hummed and checked it correctly on the paper.   
“Alright, last question. Can you confirm you’re a direwolf?” He requested. I nodded and quickly changed forms to show him for validation.  
“I’ll need a picture of that for one second.” He added. He pulled out a cybernetic digital camera and pointed it at me.  
“Smile!”  
A low frequency flashed and captured my direwolf form into a picture. I then changed forms back to a human to have another picture taken.   
“Thanks! I’ll process and fax it over. I’ll have an ID ready for you.” He said as he went into the back room. I waved to give thanks. As I was waiting for him, I leaned near the countertop with my arms wrapped behind my head. People walked past me and I noticed a few girl groups heading to the exit. They all whistled at me and whispered to each other.  
“ _look at that cute, mysterious boy~_ ”--- which I could clearly hear due to my incredible ears. They giggled and exited out of the office. I got embarrassed and blushed.  
“Oooo, someone’s being hit on,” Erick said behind me which scared me. I jumped.  
“Woah! You scared me!” I said loudly. He grinned and laughed. It seemed like he got everything done which I saw in his hand the ID he created for me.   
“Here’s your ID and a Currency Card,” he said to me.  
“Don’t lose these! IDs are important so keep it somewhere safe. Your currency card is loaded with five-thousand as a start.” I shook his hand in advance for thanks. I took the ID and the C-Card from his hand and managed to see if I had any secret pockets on my cloak. There weren't any on the outside or the inside. I then had an idea.

“Oh, also, your C-Card can track experience whenever you gain. Some are converted into currency while you get the option to transfer it or not,” he added. I smiled as I leaned against the wall next to the counter.   
“Hey Zohl, is there a power called Pocket Inventory?” I asked Zohl as Erick was watching me. Zohl shimmered.  
"There is. I would assume you want it?" Zohl asked.   
"Yeah," I replied.   
“Alrighty, I will bestow that power for you,” Zohl responded.   
Zohl, floating around, went back to the indent that was in between my collarbones. Zohl then clipped himself back and started to work on the power. With a color sequence lighting up, it started to create a holographic space display of my inventory. It selected and scanned the empty air region and then cloaked the space in an indent, turning it into a technological-like display. Zohl also added an ID inventory slot above the empty extra spaces. As soon as it was done, I was asked to put my ID into the slot. As I put it in, it converted into a digital frame picture, placed in the slot where I could see. Then a slider showed up and blocked the credentials. I then placed the C-Card off near the bottom, where there was a slot I could easily access via a hand gesture. 

“Your pocket inventory power is completed! You can access the power via gesture,” Zohl explained as it attached its pendant body back onto the strings. Watching me do all the fancy stuff, I finished with the space pocket. I said thanks to Erick and waved bye with my new ID and C-Card in my space pocket. As the day passed, it became four, so I went to find a place to stay.   
When I was strolling around the city, I found an inn that serves new Hibryds for free since its service said ‘FREE SERVICE! Anyone is welcome.’ I went to sign up for only one night. As I got my room and the key room, I entered and jumped onto the bed and laid there like an ice cube for quite a while. I closed my eyes for a bit to get some shut eyes for a while. After a short period of time, I got back up and asked Zohl where I could go and explore in Kharphan. 

“Places you can visit: Variah and CPx3. Both of these are in Riverchnaut.” Zohl listed as it made a holographic display of each place. The display lit up as I read it.

\- “ **Variah** \- North-east of Kharphan. Variah is a rural town known for a huge diversity of Hibryds. There are also many places to sightsee.  
 **\- CPX3** \- North of Kharphan and west of Variah. A Cybernautic-magic city which only consists of technicians, scientists, robots...etc. It is near the border of Nharvenile and also the Capital City of Riverchnaut. “

I stared at each visual on the display. Each image flipped as I swiped across each one. Pictures of Sylphs perked my eyes as I stared intently at them. I swiped through the images of C PX3. It looked all cyber and mech, buildings were coated in robot parts and other technological machinery. Variah stood out to me, so I decided to visit that place. 

“Let’s go to Variah then!” I said to Zohl. Zohl floated in the air and a light sequence shined.   
“Destination marked!” Zohl said as it locked the destination. As I left my room, I went to explore the city and noticed that it grew purple-dark. It was getting late as Zohl said it was around 6 in the evening. I went to Kentucky’s to grab a quick dinner. I ordered a huge meal that cost nearly $25, so I used my C-Card to pay. After the delicious meal, I went back to the inn to get some rest for the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

It’s August 6th. The sun rose and peeked through the window of my room. The warmth of the sun shone brightly on my new human body as the light irradiated everywhere in the room. I woke up on the side of my right arm which made it numb to move. The bed covers were messed up, so I fixed it as soon as I got up. My arm was still numb, so I waited for it to come back to sensation. It was around eleven in the morning as I looked up to the clock on the wall above the window. Thinking back to the past on Hetrania, I got curious about what my powers are so I talked with Zohl for a bit.  
“Hey, Zohl, what types of powers and abilities do I have?” I asked as Zohl floated in the air.  
“This is what you have: Morph, Telekinesis, and Restoration. As a Human Hibryd, you have five additional enhanced abilities along with one locked power,” Zohl informed.  
“Want me to give you a rundown?”   
“Sure,” I replied. Zohl flew and made a display panel that displayed my current powers and abilities. It explained what I could do with those and also some other information. I started to read from the main display where it showed my powers.

 **“** Your Main Powers are:

  * Morphe: The ability to take form as something else. You have used this ability multiple times.
  * Telekinesis: The ability to bring forth objects into your hand using energy condensation. You can also lock onto a specific object to bring it towards you. Telekinesis can also be used for flying/flight.
  * Restoration: The ability to purify or change a worn out, dirty, object back to its original state.
  * Pocket Inventory: Allows you to store items in a space-like pocket. ”



“Do you want to change or modify anything?” Zohl asked me as I was thinking about something. I was thinking about my morph forms as default forms so I responded to Zohl.   
“Let’s modify my morph forms as default forms. My original dire-wolf form as 1 and this form as 2.” Zohl shimmered and flew back onto the indent between my collar bone in the center..  
“Changing settings.”   
Different colors of light shimmered as Zohl modified the default morphs I asked for. Zohl then made a sound and finished.  
“Default Morphs complete. You should be able to change at will.”   
“Thanks,” I said as I continued reading the list of powers. The additional Hibryd abilities are on the right side of the display region I read from. The locked powers were underneath it.

 **“** Additional Hibryd Abilities (Enhanced): 

  * Hyperspeed: Allows you to travel at great, unlimited speed. You’ve gone 105 miles before. 
  * Hyper-strength: Makes you super strong. You are able to pack punches and other physical combat.
  * Enhanced Vision:: Allows you to see through objects at a far distance or by focusing your eyes at a visual target. It’s like X-Ray.
  * Enhanced Combat: Your combat skills are enhanced as a Hibryd. 
  * Enhanced Hearing: Allows you to listen to far-off places with minimal dialogue. You can also use this ability to hear pulses and heartbeats. You can control how much you want to hear by focusing on one object or place. You can also hear and feel vibrations
  * Animal Communication: This [default] ability allows you to freely communicate with beasts and other varieties of animals. This applies to you since you are a Direwolf. 



Locked Powers that require Experience: 

  * Rage: a brutal fearsome power, which in both mental and physical state, maxes all other activated powers. Rage can only be used if the user is in different mental, emotional states, which are on the verge of breaking **”**



I asked Zohl what I could do to achieve the locked power.   
“You need to gain power points, known as PPTs, to let you unlock this power,” Zohl responded before I could ask the question. Zohl let the display on for a little longer. I was surprised at what I could do with my current powers. There are some that are locked, which means that I need to gather experience to unlock. I have all these unique abilities and powers, I’ve only used a few of them before. I certainly did use my speed in the past, along with strength, so I would’ve guessed right on some abilities that I have. 

“I can use these abilities and powers free at will, right?” I asked as Zohl took away the display box.  
“Yes. Yes you can,” Zohl responded.  
I went to test out Telekinesis. I held my hand out and manipulated the energy around the apple sitting in the casket on the table using the force my hand was emitting. The apple flew into my hand and I took a bite into it. I was surprised. Needlessly, it felt cool with Telekinesis, so I tried it on a few more objects. There was a dumb-bell near the door, so I used my power to get it. It worked even on heavy objects. I was in awe of my newfound power that I could do. I wanted to fly so I jumped into the air and used telekinesis around my body. Flying telekinetically is awesome. I wanted to see some sort of outline for Telekinesis when I pick up objects which would make it easier for me to locate an object. I asked Zohl to configure it.   
"I want a glow effect when I use Telekinesis, though I can control it if I want it visible. Could you do the work?" I asked. As of course, Zohl began to configure it. It took a while to configure the power setting since Telekinesis was a tricky ability for Zohl to work around with. Once Zohl was done, I tried again on some type of object. I scanned my room and saw a ball on the floor, next to the patio door. I then again used my hand, pointed at the ball, and an outer blue glow started to show. The ball floated straight into my hand.   
"This is great," I said with an energetic tone.   
"Why don't we start heading to Variah?"

As I checked everything that was in place, I tidied up the room a bit using telekinesis. It looked clean. I went back to the counter where I checked in for a night to check out.  
"Checking out, Sir?" The clerk said as she removed my name from the list.  
"Yes, checking out," I replied. I waved goodbye.   
"Thank you for staying at our free service!" The clerk said in the distance. As I passed through the exit of the inn, I stretched against the warm weather that blew right past me. 

“Right then, how do I get to Variah?” I asked.   
“Continue up north. You will fly past the brick pathway onto the gravel road, which will lead you up to green plains. Once you see a well to your left, turn right onto the solid dirt path into the forest. You will encounter big green plains after you exit from the forest. You will be heading east. Your desired transportation will be up to you,” Zohl responded.

Desired transportation eh? I guess I could try flying for once.   
As I emitted the energy around me, I started to float and levitate off the ground. The cool glow shone around my body as I followed the directions Zohl told me, but I turned the glow outline off since it looked like I was a target. I tilted and flew north for a bit, passing various buildings. Buildings from great height and short height started to turn into a wave-like effect as I flew. The wind brushed past me and every sound out in the open filled my ears. From construction to chatter, chatter to music, and music to the serene sounds of nature and the abundance of animal sounds. I smiled as I flew happily, from different angles. I flew up into the sky, rocketed as I propelled in the air. Free flowing air brushed past my torso as I propelled myself even faster. People from below noticed me as they saw with awe and inspiration, looking at the sky wondering if they could fly someday. I gradually flew back down and slowed down my momentum. As I enjoyed the sound of the indigenous Hibryds and humans working together as I passed the brick roadway onto a gravel path in front of me. The sound gradually faded as I traveled my way to the next destination.

* * *

  
As I continued flying for a while, I noticed some children playing in the field. They noticed me and started chasing me. I laughed along with them. It wasn’t that urgent to get to where I needed to go, so I played with the children for a moment before continuing my travel. Time briefly passed and as I said bye to them, they waved as I proceeded to fly. I waved back in return for the fun they gave me. As I continued my way, I noticed a well on the left, just as Zohl said. I was quite thirsty, so I morphed my hand into a cup-like object and scooped some water up from the well. It was dirty so I restored it back to its old state using my restoration power. I drank it and went onto the dirt pathway like Zohl described. I saw some berries on the way so I picked some up to eat some, since I didn’t get a meal in the morning. The pathway led into a narrow forest where light could barely shine in, so I tried my best to get around the path. It was a very long path. I stopped midway since there were some unwanted species in this forest that were bothering other animals. I just told them to find some place else to stay or else they would have to deal with living in the forest.   
“Hey, Zohl, what else can I restore?” I asked as I continued my way. Zohl detached from the strings and floated alongside me.   
“Basically anything that is old,” Zohl responded.   
“You could restore your clothes if they are worn out.”   
I thought to myself how handy that could be. Nice.  
Light shined from the end of the forest which means that the exit is there. As I flew out, the sun was out. Green hills were in plain sight, hovering over each other like a domino. It was a massive place. Yellow flowers and blue flowers grew out on the beds, bees flew to gather honey. Birds landed on the bright green grass and started plucking out worms to eat. The warmth of the sun started to shine on my bare skin. It was a gorgeous sight to behold. 

As I made my way up the hills, I heard someone scream in the distance. It was coming from the forest to the right of the green plains. Ugh. Forests. The place where you don’t want to be if there is trouble. I suspected there was trouble so I went to see what was happening. I quickly found a place so I sat down against some trees near the inciting incident and used my hearing to hear what was going on. I heard a group of Hibryds, likely humans. I also heard someone crying. I continued to spy on their shenanigans. 

“Why are you so weak?!” one said. The others chimed in the conversation.   
“Stupid Hibryd! Weak! Pathetic!” I heard some kicking, so I was worried for the person who was being mistreated.  
“Scum!” another said.   
“Get lost!”   
I heard some kicking, though it seems like the group was kicking dirt.   
I then turned around using my keen eyes and stared through the tree. My pupils opened up--and as I saw, there was indeed a group of Hibryd humans. Five Hibryds to be exact. A punk girl group. They were bullying a low class Hibryd which was a fragile Sylph. My instinct kicked in and I wanted to help, but that would probably distract them and make more disgust at the weak girl. I then had an idea. I’m going to make an entrance and battle them. Not the brightest idea, but that was the only idea I could think of. I flew up and used my speed to my advantage by creating an invisible effect of wind while I was in play. I flew in zig zags at fast speed, going through the open entrance from the forest up top. It was barely dark in the forest so this could do the trick. Using the light coming in, I was basically like the wind, invisible. I whistled to make noise to startle the group of bullies. I flew right past them.   
“What was that?!” one of them said.  
One said it was probably the wind. Another pointed out that wind flows don’t normally enter the forest only if there was an opening. _Oh, there was one, from the top_. I wanted to startle them once more, so I used telekinesis on a rock and dropped it on some twigs. It made the sound of something breaking or being stepped on. They then jumped due to the sudden sound of it. As they looked back, I stopped my speed right in front of them, creating a current of wind flowing past them. I put my cloak on the girl laying against the ground.  
“You’ll be safe,” I whispered. As I got up, I turned around and spoke.   
“You should probably stop,” I said to the punk group.  
“Bullying? That’s not nice.” My voice startled them as they heard and turned back. They shrieked while one didn’t.   
“Who are you?” one said in a nasty attitude.  
“This dude thinks he’s tough, OOOO,” another said. They all made sounds and made fun of my level of power. Even if they were going to beat me up, they shouldn’t lay a finger on me.   
“What kind of business do you want with us?” The leader of the group said. Her hair was blue, spiked up in a mohawk. She wore some gangster-swag clothing style. The others were in a similar style. They all made gangster-like moves at me. I wasn’t fazed at all, nor intimidated. I smirked. They all noticed that smirk. I laughed a bit. 

“I would like a challenge.” I said confidently in my strength. They all looked down on me as a mere mortal who seemed like a weakling.   
“A CHALLENGE? AgaINst fIve of us??” The leader said introducing herself.  
“Only if you’d stop bothering that girl,” I replied.   
The leader grunted and spat on the ground near her foot. She wiped her mouth with her arm.   
“The name’s Kala!” She said ferociously.   
“Kydel. Make sure you remember my name,” I replied boldly. I got ready in a stance. The girl who was laying on the ground sat up and watched.   
“You’re on Kydel! Just wait until we beat the crap out of you!” They all said as they lunged toward me in an open space where we moved to. 

The challenge has started.   
I quickly moved away from their attack and swiped them from behind. I knocked them down but they all got back up.   
“Is that the best you can do?!” 

I stayed silent and continued. They all targeted me with combat moves, but I quickly evaded them thanks to one of my abilities, hyper-reflexes. I then created a telekinetic barrier around my hands and formed them into fists. They glowed as I hit them each time, at intense speed while evading their attacks. Each hit blatantly affected them as they choked on it. They all received the hit, but it did nothing to them. Bruises started to show on their bodies but it didn’t wear them down. They’re strong and diligent, so I’m going to defeat them by going all out. I chuckled to myself. Using telekinesis as an offense, I created a glowing wave and knocked down the four with intense strength by pulsating the ground with waves. It was just the leader left while the others became immobile. Kala was shocked.   
My eyes started to glow.   
“Wha?-” As Kala tried to speak, I zoomed right in front of her and grabbed her neck with a vice grip using my hand. I then used telekinesis to render Kala immobile. The glow in my eyes faded.   
“Yi-yi-you….!!” Kala said whimpering. The others were caught in distress. They were surprised, confused, and scared.   
“S-so powerful!”   
“You got that right,” I said to her while still holding her neck.   
“Let us go!” The others shouted.  
No, I didn’t think so. I didn’t plan to release them from my telekinetic grip, yet. I wanted to lecture them a bit more before releasing them from it.   
“Who said you have the right to bully a low class Hibryd? Hm? From where did you plan to go this far?” I growled and barked. I then let go of her neck, but kept her floating. My direwolf-nature was beginning to show.  
“You think YOU’RE far more superior than me?!” I yelled as I changed forms to show them who I really was. I reverted back into my animal form. The group showed fear and distraught.  
“Is this really the best your group can do?!” I growled with a loud voice.  
Their eyes drooped, frightened, and scared. Trembling with fear, I decided to release Kala and her group from my telekinetic hold. They all sat on the ground, heads down.

“I’m sorry, we’re sorry, we underest-” I cut Kala’s speech off. The four started to tear up, even Kala too.   
“NO!" I barked ferociously.   
"I’m not the one who you should be apologizing to!”   
“Let this be a lesson! You think you’re full of pride and power? _NO!_ Power comes to those who boast and misuse it for evil, rather than a blessing. You think you're full of authority? High and almighty? What makes you think that?! Authority and power isn't something that can be used with pride and boastfulness. It's not very pretty."   
"Do you girls understand?” I grunted, alerting them as they all silently nodded and whimpered. They knew right away I wasn’t going to let them go, so they went up to the defenseless girl who was already standing with my cloak covering her. Though it was surprising that they knew what to do which caught my attention. They all bowed down and apologized to her. The fragile girl waved weakly as we both saw the group off. Then at that moment, I told myself a promise that I wouldn’t risk breaking; Losing someone dear as a friend or seeing them get hurt.   
“I don’t think they will be bothering you for a while.” I said as I approached her. I helped her up, giving her support. I noticed her wings were damaged, so I asked her if I could restore them.  
“May I?” I asked politely. She nodded. As I went behind her, all her feathers were dirty and worn from all the kicking from before. I lit my snout with light energy and restored her wings to their previous state. This also affected her clothes too. 

“Thank you,” the girl said as I held her up by hand. She kissed my hand as a way of giving thanks. I blushed and got embarrassed. She gave me my cloak back. I noticed that she could barely walk, leaning on the trees for support, so I offered her up on a ride for the time being. As I let her ride my back, she touched my fur. She then laid against my body, hugging it.  
“You’re so strong and gentle! Your fur feels so smooth!” She said elegantly.   
“Well, it’s the least I can do,” I replied.  
“My name’s Kydel Starr. You likely saw my human form back there.”  
We shook as she we both introduced ourselves.  
“Raeya Flutter. You might have a hint of what I am,” Raeya responded with a weak smile. We both exited out the forest and sat down on the green, luscious, warm grass. The sun shone directly on it. Her eyes were bright blue as she stared into the sky, hair as dark as brown, but dyed pink near the ends. She was stunning and cute. We both started a conversation. She played with the grass as I laid down against the warmth of it.  
“Is it true Direwolves are on the top of the Hibryd kingdom?” She asked me, staring at my fluffy body. I didn’t know the answer to it but Zohl jumped in.  
“Very. Direwolves are the first rank-hierarchy in the kingdom. Werecats are second.” Zohl responded to the question as it detached and flew out, startling Raeya.   
“Who’s this little one?” She asked curiously, trying to catch it playfully.   
“That’s Zohl, the Spirit of Hetra,” I answered as Zohl flew towards me. Raeya was dumbfounded and shocked in disbelief. She was left speechless for a while.  
“Yeah…..it’s a long story,” I said as I let out another sigh.  
“A bunch of stuff has happened a lot to me.”   
“You don’t need to explain, I’m sure you’re tired,” Raeya responded trying to stand up. I helped her up and asked if she wanted a ride again. She insisted not to, but when she tried to walk, she stumbled and fell. I laughed and helped her up to it. She pouted as I let her onto my back, traveling up the hills. Zohl flew back and merged onto the strings. There were many hills to conquer.   
“Where are you from?” I asked her as she wiggled and stretched her legs and arms.   
“Variah!” She said happily. I was surprised since it was one of my destinations.  
“Really? I’m headed there!” I said excitedly as we both laughed together.   
“Yayy!~ We’re both headed in the same direction!” Raeya giggled.   
“It’s just past these hills! You’ll see a town sign near some big rocks.”  
I nodded and trotted over the hills. They were very steep, so I told Raeya to hold on as I jumped forth like a bouncing frog. The wind brushed past her hair as it glittered in the sunlight, making some dust fall off. As we made it over the last hill, I saw a sign up ahead. It was very big and it stood next to some big rocks.   
“Ay! We’re here!” I said as before we went through the open entrance.   
“Can you walk or fly?”  
“I think I can fly now that the limbs are fixed after some rest,” she replied.  
“Don’t really know if I can walk yet.” Raeya fluttered her wings at a speedy tempo which lifted her into the air. She shrunk down in size and flew around faster in her tiny form. I changed forms once again.  
“Weeee!~” Raeya giggled. I watched her fly, gazing at how small she was. She then flew back to me and wanted to land in my hands. I handed my palm out. She shrunk around the size of a plush doll that stood around one foot, five inches.   
“W-what do you think?” She asked as her tiny feet touched my hands. I coughed as a reaction which made her tilt her head. I stared at her and tried to talk.  
“Amazing...,” I said, complimenting her.   
“Haha, thanks!” She giggled embarrassingly. She then flew up and around in the air and as she resized, she fell without warning me.   
“Hey, catch me!” she said.   
“Woah!” I said as I used my speed to catch her. I caught her in my arms as I followed her shadow as she fell. I caught her in a princess style hug. My tail wagged in embarrassment. My face turned red. Raeya turned red too, speechless.   
“This ...is... embarrassing,” I spoke up, trying to break the silence while holding her. I didn’t know where my hands were placed so when I tried to grip something, the feeling was ...squishy? I kept squishing the place where I didn’t know where my hand was.  
Raeya squealed. Her face was even redder when I looked down to see what her reaction was. I finally noticed where I was grabbing --the side of her breasts. I reacted and almost dropped her, but luckily, she flew and resized back into her form. 

“Wha-I’m sorry!” I said.  
“It was an accident, honestly!” Her back was turned at me but she flew and turned around, arms crossed.   
“Even though we just met, I’ll let this one slide for now,” She said sarcastically.  
“But being with you..has made me happy.” Her tone became soft and friendly afterwards. I felt relieved that she said that.   
“Want me to show you around?” She asked me as we both entered into Variah.   
“No thanks,” I said politely.  
“It would be rude to drag you around after what happened today.” 

She giggled and waved bye to me as she flew back to her place. I scanned the area and looked around. Variah is full of life. Distant chatter and the sounds of blacksmiths sang into my ear. It smelled quite nice. There was a view of a huge lake just a few yards away from the entrance. As I scanned the buildings, I quickly found a place to stay for the next few days here in Variah. I wanted to see what this town’s surprises are. From what I heard, this town is like a diversity. There are many different Hibryds living here or roaming about so I got curious about the types of Hibryds I can meet. The inn I found is near the lake that I visited before. It’s got this vintage vibe to it and it also had a restaurant inside. As I entered, the restaurant clerk welcomed me.

“Welcome! Service for one?” The clerk asked. 

I replied and the clerk showed me the way to my seat. It was near a window that had a lake-side view. She left the menu on the table for me. The sounds of metal clicking screeched into my ears as the sounds of talking citizens stood in place. I looked down at the menu and scanned all the meal options. There were a lot of options to choose from. It ranged from pasta to burgers, meals to appetizers, and homemade meals. I picked out a homemade meal when one of the waiters came by to ask what I wanted. As soon as the meal came, the warm delicious aroma of food filled my nose with joy. I picked up the utensils to the right of the plate of food and started eating. It was tasty. I haven’t had anything like this in my life! It was rich in flavor, savory, and hot, all the flavor of the meal soaked my mouth and energized my body. 

After the short rejuvenating meal, I went and paid for it, along with room service. I headed out and went to the lake. Judging from my shadow, I guessed that it was around 1 in the afternoon. It was a bright afternoon. The lakeside beds were tainted with water. Arranged with white and yellow flowers in the grass beds, I went to take a seat down under some shade near a big tree that grew out of the land. The tree was almost like a hanging umbrella.  
 _Ahhh_...it felt nice under the shade. The captivating sounds of water and the wind sounded nicely, the chatter of citizens raised in the distance. There were Hibryds playing in the water, fishermen, kayakers and other Hibryds that camped and played near the lake. I stared at the flowers sitting on the grass, reaching out for the sun and the air. One of the pink flowers stood out, it almost looked like Raeya’s presence was here. An image of Raeya started to appear in my mind as I stared at the pink flower, adoring it. I picked the pink flower up and thought that I would give it to Raeya as a present. I kept thinking about being friends with her, but I don’t know how to express it. I twirled the flower around my fingers. 

“You should give it to her _!_ ” Zohl said as if he read my mind.  
“Don’t keep those feelings to yourself!”  
I kept quiet, but Zohl was right even though both Raeya and I just met recently.   
“Okay then,” I spoke abruptly.  
“Can you set the lifespan to the flower as infinite? Also, don’t let it get dirty.”   
I held out the flower in my palm to Zohl. Zohl floated and scanned the flower. Multiple blinks of light appeared on Zohl for the first time that I’ve never seen before. The light stopped after Zohl was done with the flower he modified.   
“It’s done,” Zohl said as the flower floated back into my hand. It was very pretty and cute. Glitter shined everywhere on the pink flower as I secretly put it in my inventory as I pressed the pin behind the back on Zohl. I gazed out onto the lake wondering what journeys my life will take. The blueness of the lake shimmered in my view as ripples of water pushed back and forth. I heard some rustling in the tree that stood over me. A shadowy figure jumped out and landed right next to me. 

“Hi there! It’s very rare to see your kind around here,” the figure said.  
“I’m Gray Arsul, a Woodland Elf.”   
I shook his hand as he sat down next to me, staring at my large tail and bushy ears.   
“I’m Kydel Staar, just call me Kydel,” I replied. His ears were pointed, green hair, green clothing, shifty, green eyes, and athletic. He wore a huge smile so I suspected he’s optimistic at times.   
“It’s a lovely view, isn’t it?” He said as he gazed out onto the lake.  
“It sure is,” I replied. I then had a thought in my mind. I could use a companion to sightsee this rural town. There might be a lot to show and see.   
“Hey, why don’t you show me around later today?” I asked Gray.  
“Since I’m new to this town, I would love some company,” I added.   
“Very well! We’ll meet at 3. Are you okay with that?” He responded and asked me, all happily.  
“Sure!” I responded. As we both got up and out of the shade of the tree, we waved at each other as we went in different directions. I went back to the inn I booked for as Gray went back to his place for the time being. I walked back into the Inn and went to the room that had been picked out for me. It was a lakeside view with a small patio outside. I laid on the bed and went to take a short nap. 

* * *

  
I woke up as the sun shone in from the window. It wasn’t much but I got up and put my cloak on. I exited out of the inn and went to wait for Gray under the same place where we met once. I was there early as it became two-forty as I gazed out onto the lake again. I heard a familiar voice in the distance, though it wasn’t Gray, it was Raeya. I chose to ignore it but I wanted to surprise her. As her voice traveled, it felt like she was already here. It couldn’t be though, or it was probably how powerful my ears are. Her voice gradually became louder as I felt her presence coming to me from behind.   
_Trying to scare me? Haha, that won’t work_.   
Truth be told, she was actually behind me, behind the tree. I quickly jumped up onto a branch above me as she tried to scare me on the other side.   
“BOO!” Raeya shouted. She never noticed that I was above her.   
“Huh?? I swear I saw Kydel ...maybe it was just my imagination,” she said as she was about to leave. Oh no, I wouldn’t let her off easily, so I jumped down just as she turned the opposite direction of the lake.  
“ ** _BOO!_** ” I barked as she turned my way.  
“AHH!” She shrieked and minimized her size as she flew behind a leaf hanging from a tree.   
“No fair!! I wanted to scare you!” She said as she flew around me.   
“I couldn’t help but be sneaky,” I said with a smug look. I then remembered about the flower I had in my inventory that I picked up earlier today.  
“Raeya, I have something to give you. Try not to peek through,” I said with a hesitant look.   
“Okay!” Raeya squealed. I clicked the pin behind Zohl and my inventory popped up. I reached in and took the flower out. She closed her eyes.  
“Hold out your hands, palms out,” I said. She did as she was told. I placed the pink flower I plucked from earlier onto her hand.  
“Surprise!”

A pink flower, glowing and glittering in the sun’s light. I felt double the presence of her. I saw a reflection in her eyes as she gasped.   
“Is this for me??” She said smelling the flower.   
“Yeah! I want this as a start of our friendship. Do you want to be my friend?” I asked and explained. As I felt her presence, she screamed on the inside. It felt like I could hear it.   
“Awwwww…..thanks! I’m glad to be your friend!” Raeya said dashingly. We both heard footsteps coming towards us from the back.   
“Huh? Whomst art thou?” Gray questioned as he approached us. Raeya jumped and flew behind me. Gray was curious who this mystery person was that I made exchanges from.   
“Ah--...This is Raeya. I ran into her earlier today who was being picked on,” I said as she emerged from behind. It was Gray’s first time seeing a Sylph.  
“Why hello there, I’m Gray,” Gray said to Raeya as she held onto my arm. She didn’t say anything. She peeked at Gray but ducked after. Raeya snuck a peek again and muffled some words. I moved but she followed and hid behind me again. 

“C’mon...don’t be shy,” I said to Raeya, nudging her cute little back. She pouted, crossing her arms.  
“H-H-hi…,” Raeya said timidly. Gray looked at her and smiled. He bent down a bit and shook her tiny hand. A thought popped up in my mind and I told Gray to give us two a moment. He nodded and went towards the bench next to the lake. Raeya turned around and looked at me like a puppy. She flew up and floated around in front of me.   
“How’d you meet?” She asked me about Gray.  
“Ah...he was up in this tree earlier. He noticed me as a visitor and we eventually became friends,” I responded to her question.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. He told me he’d take me around town sightseeing,” I said.   
“Want to come along?” I offered her.   
“Oh, I’m sorry. I have something to do. I wish I could tag along, but I can’t,” Raeya told me.   
"You two go on ahead.” She smiled at me, darted and re-sized, waving at me.   
“Wait!” I shouted, catching up to her. She turned around.  
“At least let me have your info. It would be a hassle to try and find you,” I told her.   
“Sure,” she giggled. Zohl then floated in response and detached from my neck.   
“Please place your finger on the indent behind me. Once you do, we’ll be able to locate where you are and message you freely.” Zohl told her.   
“Oooo,” Raeya said as she did what she was told to. She put her finger on the indent behind Zohl. A little sound like a click pinched her finger. She didn’t hesitate but felt a slight pain on her finger.   
“Done! I’ve collected a drip of blood from you in order to contact you,” Zohl explained.  
“How does that work?” She asked Zohl.   
“In order to contact Raeya here, draw a gesture of any kind and a display box will show. A field region will have a keyboard pop up, so you can text her,” Zohl explained.   
“Why don’t you try it?”   
We both were very eager to try the new system Zohl set up for the both of us. I gestured my fingers across my left palm and a display region popped out. It’s just like Zohl said. Raeya did the same. Soon a keyboard popped up. I was fascinated as my fingers went to the display box. I typed in a message.

[Hey :D] I hit send. Raeya on the other end got my message and she replied back. 

[Heey!] Raeya giggled at me. She looked at the time on the upper right corner and closed out of the holographic display box. 

“I should go. Thanks for everything,” Raeya said. She flew back in the direction she came from towards her place. I saw her off as I found Gray sitting on the bench. I looked at him to see him half sleeping, snoring.   
_Should I wake him…?_  
I thought it would be a bad idea but he said he would take me sightseeing around Variah. I shrugged it off and tapped his arm.   
“WOAH!” Gray screamed as he reacted to my touch.   
“So…..” I said to him.   
“Where to?”  
He cleared his throat and spoke.   
“Lake Grasschn, the one you’re looking at,” he said pointing at it. I looked at it but it was just the same lake that I’ve passed by a few times. I tried to wrap my brain around it but I got confused instead as a peak of pain jabbed my head. 

“But-”   
Gray cut me off.   
“There’s more to this lake.”

As curious as I am, Gray led me around the huge lake walking to the east of the bench he got up from. We passed wooden buildings and services that were filled with sounds and life. I quickly noticed that we were going farther than the lake.   
“The lake’s over there…,” I said to Gray.   
“Nu-uh. Just follow me,” he said, shushing me. I followed Gray for a while. After passing some buildings, we made our way onto a grassy pathway, trampled over, making a faint walkway. It then changed from being grassy to a crumbly, rocky, gravel pathway. Caves started to appear in the distance, cowering over a small cabin’s height. Cool air escaped from the inside and exited out as we approached it. I felt it hit me in my face and my tail, brushing it like a feather. My spine chilled. Gray walked in and I followed along. Entering into the cave, light shimmered everywhere as the light from the sun entered into the cave. The cave had crystals growing everywhere, on the walls and even on the grounds. It was very pretty. Vibrant colors of purple, blue, and white glimmered among the cave as we went deeper into the system.  
“Woaaahh….,” I gasped in awe.   
“Amazing!”   
Gray snickered at me as we walked more.   
“There’s more to this,” he told me.   
A brush of air flew past us again, creating a sound before it dispersed into a huge cave-room that I saw up ahead, brimming with light. It was miles away.   
“There’s a room up ahead, though you’d probably see with those powerful eyes of yours,” Gray said.   
“Let’s race to it,” I told him with a cocky tone.   
“OOooh...You’re up!” Gray said as he dashed.   
_Dang, he’s fast!_ I watched him as I rear-ended the ground with my foot. I ran and sped up, easily overtaking Gray’s speed and pace. Gray saw me top over him, which surprised him.   
“Oh.. do me better..,” Gray shouted at me as he sped up, eventually keeping up with my pace. Matching eyes, I noticed some heavy breathing from Gray’s mouth.   
_He must be at his limit ... let's surprise him_ \- I thought. I snuck a smile and he noticed it. I jabbed the ground with my legs with brute force and rocketed past him, overtaking his top speed.   
“Wha?!” He gasped as I sped over the bright crystals, creating a gradient color of blue and white fire behind me. My speed kept rising and before I knew it, I sped into the huge round cave-room and ran the perimeter of the room. The feeling of the wind brushing past my face felt so good, I decided to run on the walls as I traveled onto them, creating a ring of speed. As Gray entered the room, gasping for breath, he watched me as I ran with the trail of fire. He looked at me as if he was amazed. 

Carelessly, a thought came into my mind.   
_Crap, how do I stop?_  
Zohl echoed into my mind.   
“Create a telekinetic bubble,” Zohl quickly responded.   
I shot my arm out against the empty space and as I concentrated my energy, a blue glow appeared in the form of a giant bubble.   
“Run into it!” Zohl told me. Judging from the order Zohl told me, I ran off the wall and into the giant, blue, telekinetic bubble, which stopped my speed as dust gathered around in heaps of clouds. I coughed as I regained my sense of walking. Gray ran up to me, catching his breath. I never got tired nor did I lose breath from running. As the dust disappeared from the air and fell back to the ground. I plopped down onto the floor with my legs wide open, stretching them.   
“Dude,” Gray said, panting for air.   
“That. Was. Sick!”   
I thought I’d scare Gray off but I didn’t. He accepted me for who I am. Gray sat down in front of me.   
“So, what’s so special about this cave?” I asked him. He looked at me and gestured to me to look up. Looking up, I stared into a see-through space of crystals bonding between together. I also noticed water above the crystals. I then got a hint that we were under Lake Grasschn.   
“Yo, is this Lake Grasschn?” I asked him. He nodded.   
“How are the crystals doing this?”  
I got up and floated in the air, touching the hard, solid smooth crystals that held the water up. Light beamed down from the sky as it passed through the water, the crystals, and onto the ground around us, shining a wavy pattern. It became luminescent due to the colors of the crystals.   
“These crystals have a mind of their own,” Gray explained.   
“It was a very long time ago. Some would say it’s a myth, others would say it’s impossible. These crystals were originally from an asteroid that flew in and crashed landed here, creating a huge crater in the center of this land. The remains of the asteroid’s spheric rock is magnetic, creating a very strong magnetic field. Over time, these crystals would grow in the air, floating, creating this huge bowl of what we see today.”  
“One of the observers who came to look at this phenomenon watched it grow over time. And as expected, the crystals began to react to the magnetic field, but there doesn't seem to be one though. Others say that the asteroid deteriorates. Though it’s still a mystery.” As Gray finished the story, I took it in deep and stared at the crystals once again.   
_Magnetic, huh..?_ I got up and stretched up, reacting to a frequency that hit my brain.  
“Wait here,” I said to Gray.   
I walked around and chipped some dirt against the ground, trusting my sense of hearing. The frequency that I am hearing is getting stronger as I continue to jab against the ground with my foot.   
“This..sound…”   
“Gray, I’m gonna need you to move onto that ledge on the wall over there,” I said pointing to it. He questioned my reasoning and actions but he did it anyway.   
“Your story is quite accurate but you are missing one thing,” I said, holding my arm out as I pointed my hand against the ground. Generating an amount of heat and telekinetic force, I lifted all the dirt off the ground, clumping it into a big ball, and revealing what was beneath it.   
“This is the asteroid,” I stated.  
“What?! But how?! ” Gray reacted as he came back to me, stomping on the ground that was once an asteroid. It was still intact. I looked at it and touched it, which jolted my brain. Another statement entered my mind. I couldn’t believe it. Zohl started to react against the magnetic frequency. 

_I need to tell him that this asteroid ...is an Immphorus!_ I cleared my throat.   
“Have you ever heard of an Immphorus Asteroid?” I asked him.   
“Yes, but I’ve briefly known about it,” he responded.   
“Immphorus means that if an asteroid hits a clean land with no viruses and starts growing crystals in the air….,” I said, letting Gray finish the sentence, gesturing to him.   
“It becomes magnetic due to the core of the planet’s cosmic materials…disallowing it to age...”  
I nodded at him.  
“WAIT,” Gray said just realizing.   
“WE’RE STANDING ON ONE?!”   
“Yeah, we are,” I said, agreeing.   
“Ever since I created a telekinetic bubble to stop my speed, I’ve been getting this sound frequency from the ground below. I suspected that my telekinesis triggered it,” I explained.   
Gray couldn’t speak. He was too bewildered. His mind couldn’t handle all this information.   
“I’ve been blown away,” Gray said laughing sarcastically.  
“Hey, at least we solved a mystery,” I added on the positive side. I looked up at the bowl formation once again as light radiated everywhere. A gush of wind flew in from the cave’s tunnel and into the room, spreading the cold temperature along with it. I let out a sigh and a small puff of white air moved out from my mouth. Gray walked around the room, staring at all the crystals that were growing out. With the clump of dirt still floating around due to my telekinesis, I let go of it as the dirt fell down, staying in form. Mind all over the place as I stared at the elegant view of the crystallized bowl. Suddenly, a thought jumbled up.   
“What happened to the trail of fire?” I asked Zohl.  
“You’ve generated the trail due to the crystal’s composition _,_ ” Zohl informed.   
“You mean from what it’s made of?”  
“Yes, you are correct _,_ ” Zohl replied back. I looked at Gray who was walking around, touching all the smooth crystals that stood out. A tiny piece fell out after Gray let go.   
“Oh! It fell!” Gray said coming back to me with a piece of crystal in his hand.   
“Take a look at this gorgeous!” 

Gray gave the crystal to me. I took it from his hand and held onto it, feeling the natural frequency and the smoothness of the edges and faces. It shone brightly in my eyes as it reflected the sun’s rays that shone in through the crystal bowl. I held it up against the light that shone through from the top of the bowl. With light hitting it, the entire room lit up.  
“Wow...,'' I said in amazement as I looked around. The room was radiated with bright and energetic light. It looked like I was in a room full of neon lights dispersed everywhere. Then the light faded away slowly as the sun shone through the crystal dome.   
“Come now, there’s more to Variah,” Gray said to me, giving me a hand. I took his hand and he helped me up. We both exited the crystal cave and back onto the green, grassy fields. The wind gushed past us once again. In a few, we started walking again, north-east of the cave we visited. Passing through grassy plains and rocky shores, we reached near the border of Uexeria. 

“Behold, another wonderful sight!” Gray triumphed happily.   
“The Rigid Calm Sea!”  
Out I gazed into the calm blue, reflecting sea, rays of the sun hit the water, dispersing everywhere. The water looked transparent as if I could see the sea-ground. The scent of the ocean smelled like lavender-foam as birds flew over the vast body of water. Sea animals jumped out of the water and dived back in. Water rushed to the coast and back, like a rocking chair. I began to wonder if there’s another continent at the end of the sea so I let my eyes glow as I saw past all the water. There it was, a land of mysterious adventures waiting to be explored. I then asked Gray the continent’s name on the other side of the sea. 

“What’s the name of the continent beyond The Rigid Calm Sea?  
“Ucaloris, the Green Continent,” Gray responded to my question.   
“It’s all greens and forests, with a few exceptions to ruins and caves.”  
“Is it possible to get there?” I asked again.

Gray sighed and responded.  
“Unfortunately, it’s not possible anymore,” Gray said.

“East City Harbor, which is in Nharvenile, (a country north of Riverchnaut), shut down due to heavy conditions of the Rigid Calm Sea. Oceanographers say that it’s unpredictable to detect the waves of the ocean since it’s too rocky and crazy to pass through.”  
“Then comes Green City Harbor, a place in Ucaloris. Apparently, it became useless due to the continent’s crazy forestation growth,” he explained to me. 

“Wow, that’s crazy,” I said in response.   
“I know right?” He charmed back in.   
I gazed out into the sea again, letting the mood bring me in. It was before long until I asked another question.  
“Is there any other place here for sightseeing?” I asked.   
“Nah. There’s only two places for sightseeing. We’ve visited them all today,” Gray said back to me.   
“Want to head back?”  
“Sure.”   
Walking back in the opposite direction from the places we visited, we eventually arrived back at Variah through the same pathway we took before. Civilian sounds began to fill my ears again. 

“So,” Gray said.  
“What do you like about this town so far?”   
I stayed quiet and thought about it. We were walking back to the big tree we were at before and I gazed around. I cleared my throat.  
“It’s not bad. There’s plenty to do and to see,” I answered his question. Gray had his arms up and held behind his head, leaning while we were walking.   
“This town is diverse, so to say,” Gray told me.   
“What are you going to do after?”   
I really had no idea what to do after exploring and traveling, so I thought about it.   
_Aside from travelling around…..my final destination in Riverchnaut is CPX3. I’m not in a hurry anyways._  
“I think I’ll stick around for a few weeks maybe. I want to hang out with Raeya,” I responded to his question. We both sat down on the bench that was facing the lake.   
“What about you?”   
“Ah, I’m a bounty hunter, I hunt bad guys. I think I have one around this time,” Gray replied.   
“Wait, what time is it?”   
“ _It’s 4:45 in the afternoon_ ,” Zohl chimed in.   
“SHOOT! I gotta go. I’m supposed to be at the Bounty Headquarters at 5,” Gray panicked.  
I saw Gray off as he trotted his way to his workplace. I stared at the lake again as I turned around. This might be an adventurous month perhaps. Variah was active. Brimming with the sounds of citizen life and wild animals, I sat on the bench where me, Raeya, and Gray met at the start. For the following weeks, I took my time to absorb all the different elements of the town of Variah to get familiar with it. I then finally asked Raeya to hang out with me until she told me what I might do next after staying for a while. I told her I’d go to CPX3, the capital of Riverchnaut. She said she’d tag along since she has nothing else to do. And thus was the start of our adventurous journey on Uexeria.


	5. Chapter 5

After two weeks in Variah, it was August 20th, around lunch time. I finally settled into the town’s atmosphere and everywhere I went was enchanting. Raeya popped up from behind and asked me how my experience was.   
“What do you think about this town so far?” She asked me while we were walking around.   
“It’s not bad. I like the atmosphere here!” I said, smiling.   
“The sound is enchanting and luring, the water in the lake feels nice, and most of all, how friendly the citizens here are.” I looked around and gazed at everything in my sight. 

“Really? That’s great to hear!” Raeya said happily.   
“Yeah, it’s sort of what you would call--uh..what’s that word…”  
“Encaptivating!”   
Raeya smiled at me and I smiled back.   
We passed some street stalls that were selling fruits and food so I went ahead and bought some for our trip to CPX3. The stall I bought food from had some bread, fruits, and pastries so I put them all in my inventory after the purchase.   
“Thank you for your purchase,” the lady behind the counter said. I waved and smiled at the lady as a token of thanks.   
“So, what made you want to tag along with me?” I asked Raeya.   
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” She asked in response. I nodded  
“Then as friends, I’ll follow you wherever you go!” She looked happy and had a charismatic tone. I felt alive with her even though my buddy Zohl is here with me.   
“If you’re willing to come with me, does that mean you’ll tend to me whenever there’s danger? No matter if I get injured?” I asked her seriously. Raeya was startled at my question. She paused and thought about it. It took a while until her response. She then spoke.  
“Y-Yes! No matter the cost!” She replied abruptly.   
“Good,” I said, holding out my hand.   
“I hope you know what you are agreeing to.”   
She took my hand and shook. Then a light formed around it. Zohl didn’t do anything. It was the pact I told her. Zohl knew about it so he didn’t speak. After the light faded, a connection was established between us. I could already tell that our friendship together will strengthen throughout our journey, even if there were ups and downs. 

“Do you think you’ll pack?” I asked Raeya, noticing the amount of clothing she has.   
“Not likely! In addition to being a sylph, changing sizes adjusts my clothing so I’m all good,” Raeya explained her idea.   
“Ahh...okay,” I said with a smile.   
“I hope we can understand each other better.” 

Raeya flew amidst our walk around town until we went to the opposite side of the lake, far from the buildings and the traffic of the busy roads. As I gazed across the lake, the tiny buildings reflected back at me from the lake’s far side. I looked down at the lake’s still water as it reflected the sky, the clouds, and the rays of the sun. It was completely still. Then, an idea popped up in my mind.

“Say, is Lake Grasschn always this still?” I asked Raeya.   
“Sometimes, though it’s predictable when waves will come,” Raeya replied.   
“Hmmm….” I said mumbling to myself, thinking.   
_It’s possible, isn’t it? Running on water…._  
“Yes it is!” Zohl echoed in my mind.   
“What are you thin-”   
I cut Raeya off, jolting into the distance as I kicked a wind behind me which brushed past Raeya. I ran over the rocks bordering the lake and onto the water, creating a current of splashes behind me. I felt each splash of water on the hilt of my feet as I ran at fast speeds.

“Hell yeah!” I shouted as I ran the shape of the lake.   
_This...feels amazing!!_  
Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw Raeya matching my pace.   
“Who knew you could run so fast!” Raeya shouted while flying.   
“Who knew you could match my pace!” I shouted back sarcastically. Raeya took that as a challenge.  
“Sylphs can fly faster!” Raeya said, challenging me to a race  
“Is that so?!” I replied.  
“You're on!” 

Agreeing to her challenge. Raeya rocketed forward, passing my speed. I smiled and pushed more, matching her pace. We were evenly set. We ran around the lake one more time before going onto the border of the lake, the jagged rocks. Dust started to allocate in the air. A small water twister was forming.  
“Try and keep up!” Raeya shouted as she propelled another speed-rocket against me, darting a few yards farther than me.   
I laughed and boosted up my game. I propelled the same way Raeya did, which I finally matched her pace. Raeya saw me keeping up with her pace but she was gradually getting slower.  
“I-I c-can’t go on…,” Raeya said panting for breath. I looked at her wings and they were becoming tense and numb, straining from the flapping and speed boosts.   
“Fall back!” I said to her  
“Wha--Why?!” She shouted at me.   
“I’ll catch you! Trust me!” I replied back. 

She couldn’t talk as she was catching her breath, so she nodded at me. She relaxed her wings as I boosted my speed infinitely, circling around the lake while Raeya casually fell slowly as time started to dilute for me, as if it was slowing down. I circled around, went off the border, ran in an angle, onto the tree, and jumped to where Raeya was. Before Raeya hit the bordering rocks within a few seconds, I caught her as my speed allowed me to splash into the lake--when time officially went back to normal for me. A huge splash was created from the impact of my speed, sending droplets onto dry land. I held my breath under the water and noticed that Raeya’s wings were soaked and wet. She coughed water as she realized we were in the lake. She tried to move but couldn’t due to the fact that her wings are like rocks in water. A little air bubble escaped from her mouth. I bit my lips. I swam and caught up to her.  
 _Crap! Raeya can’t swim if her wings are out!-_ I noticed quickly, creating a telekinetic bubble around me and Raeya. Water spilled out of my bubble as I floated up and out of the lake, only to see Raeya coughing water out while I held her. Her wing muscles twitched before disappearing. I floated down and dispelled my bubble, landing on the bench next to the lake. My clothes were drenched so I restored it with a glow with my hands, heat emitted from it. Raeya coughed out water, breathing for air as I took the liberty to restore her clothes the same way I did with mine. 

“Are you okay?!” I asked her, placing my hand behind her chest, soothing the pain from her throat and neck while rubbing her back.   
“I-I’m fine. Thanks though,” She said panting, placing her hand against her chest. A light emitted from her hand, intensifying before slowly fading away.  
“That...just now..what was it?” I asked her.   
“Oh, the light?” She replied. I nodded. She took my hand without hesitation and placed my hand against her chest. I felt the pulse of her heartbeat. It was back to normal in an instant. Maybe it had to do with the light that emitted from her hand earlier.   
“One of my abilities, Soothe Touch. I’m able to calm down a raging beast or a person’s heart if it’s pulsing too fast. I did that just now and it worked,” she responded.   
“Us sylphs have that ability.”   
“Wow. That’s pretty useful,” I said. Raeya smiled at me and I brought myself to smile after what just happened.   
“Either way, yeah. You seem fast yourself,” she told me. Zohl chimed in.  
“I had some time to calculate how fast you two were going. You both were going Mach 1. Unfortunately for Raeya, she can only travel that fast,” Zohl notified us. We were both shocked.   
“What about me?” I asked Zohl.   
“For you, Kydel, your speed is unbelievably endless!” Zohl told me in surprise. Both me and Raeya dropped our jaws. I found it surprising. We were both found speechless.   
“You could circle the entire continent within 0.05 seconds _,_ ” Zohl added.   
“Wow….” Raeya said under her breath.   
“I didn’t even know you could go much faster!”   
“I never tried until Zohl told us,” I replied.   
“I can control how fast I go, correct?”   
“ _Yes,_ ” Zohl answered. 

Raeya started to yawn. She stretched her legs and arched her back, giving her muscles flexibility and freshness. She put her hand over her mouth a second time yawning.   
“Tired?” I asked her. She nodded.  
“Alright, why don’t we rest here in the sun before going to CPX3?”   
I stretched my legs in the sun’s warmth after the insane speed-run with Raeya and leaned against the bench. I relaxed my muscles and noticed Raeya dozing off, as her head tilted and fell against my right arm. Raeya looked beautiful up-close. The elegant brown-pink color of her hair shone brightly against the suns’ rays. I closed my eyes and let my body rest, absorbing all the sun’s energy and warmth. 

After that short nap, I opened my eyes and felt energized. I turned my head to see that Raeya was gone. I scanned around the area to see if I could find her and there she was, near some trees picking some fruits. She flew back to me with some fruits in her hands. 

“Someone’s up,” She said, handing me some fruits.  
“Thanks,” I said, taking a fruit from her hand.  
“What’s this?”  
“That is a Wild Folist, a fruit great for strength boosting,” she replied as I looked at its round, purple-red shape. I took a bite into it. It was sweet, juicy, savory, and very delicious.   
“Dang, this is...tasty!” I said, gulping down the bitten pieces. Raeya smiled as she bit into her portion. As juicy as it is, energy started to flow through my body. My strengths’ power raised even more as I finished the fruit, leaving the seed out. I juggled the seed in the air, catching it over and over. Out of nowhere, I had an idea. I tossed the seed into the air and let it float using telekinesis. I then converted my telekinesis’ energy to my restoration power. The seed looked good as new. I got up and dug into the ground, placing the seed there. I then covered the seed with dirt. Curious, Raeya asked what I was doing.   
“This?” I replied.  
“Just watch.” I smiled.   
I gestured at the lake and telekinetically picked up some water. I then let it hover over the place where I buried the seed and drenched the place. Then after, I stood back a few meters from the spot. I told her to stay back. I then created a light-like energy in the air, using the telekinetic force in my hands. Pushing pressure into it, I gestured the floating light into the spot where I put the seed. Just then, the seed sprouted quickly and grew into a tree that Raeya harvested the fruit from. Raeya watched as it grew, taller than most trees. It then stopped.   
“Wow! That’s amazing!” Raeya told me after the feat I just did. I blushed slightly.  
“You just grew a new tree instantly!”   
“Well, I didn’t know it would work until I tried,” I replied to her.   
“At least I learned something new now.”   
I stared at the tree I’ve grown in only a few seconds, it felt good to see life blooming. I stretched my arms and legs out in the sun’s warmth. I felt the wind brush past my head, Raeya, flying around the area.   
“Well then,” I cleared my throat.   
“Why don’t we head out then?”  
Raeya, flying around, shrunk down in size and sat on my shoulder.   
“Okay!”   
She wore a smile, a pretty one.  
On our way back to the town, the air brushed past my face once again. Birds sang their songs and life bloomed among the grass and fields. As soon as the gravel path appeared, the atmosphere of the town enchanted my ears once again. It always felt surreal and moody. I told Raeya to wait for me by the lake since I need to check out at the Inn I was staying at so she saw me off when we both arrived.   
“I’ll be back in a bit.”   
I headed back to my inn, grabbed most of my stuff, and headed to the receptionist.   
“Checking out?” The receptionist asked me.   
“Yes.”   
I pulled out my C-Card and hovered it over the scanner the receptionist held out. She overlooked the receipt and asked if I wanted a copy. I politely rejected and headed out.  
“Have a great rest of your day,” the receptionist said right after I opened the door. I wore a smile as I exited the inn. The spare clothes and food I grabbed from my room in the inn left my right arm heavy since it hurt my arm, so I gestured in the air and opened my inventory. I placed them inside and closed out, heading back to the lake where Raeya is waiting. As soon as I got there, she came and greeted me. 

“Are you ready for a great adventure?” I asked her.  
“Yeah! This adventure already sounds amazing!”   
“Oh? I wouldn’t jinx that just yet,” I said back to her.   
“Who knows what might happen later on.”  
Once we approached the exit (the entrance of the town I came to a couple weeks ago), we both stepped out and saw the grassy hills once again.  
“I hope we can get to know each other better, Kydel,” Raeya told me.  
“Yeah, me too,” I smiled back. 

It took us nearly a fat minute to cross the hills to the forest path, and the forest where I saved Raeya. We both stared at it for a bit. The memory of me unleashing only a portion of my powers just to help out Raeya filled my mind with emotions I’ve never experienced. Zohl tingled but ignored.  
“You’re experiencing changes within your human-response time. Emotions are one of them. Continue to grow and better understand how this world works _,_ ” Zohl echoed in my mind. I smiled slightly.  
“What’s wrong?” Raeya asked me.   
“Huh?”  
“You’re distinctly feeling pressure, I can hear your heartbeat beating differently,” she said.  
“Also, even though you're powerful and all, I acknowledge that. But keep in mind that there’s room for you to grow, through bad times and good times,” she added with a serious tone.  
“It’s not that simple really, it takes time to identify yourself. We all have weaknesses but we can work from it.”  
 _It’s true. What Raeya says applies to me, and her alone, let along with other humans._  
“You’re right,” I responded.   
I thought to myself the feats I’ve done in the past and up to now. The only feat that stuck out was when I helped out Raeya in her predicament.   
“I wonder what the future has in store for us,” I said my thoughts out loud. We were both left speechless, not knowing how to answer that. Once we passed the hills and into the forest path, animals from each direction chittered. The gush of wind flew into the forest path and out. An acorn fell from the branches atop. It seems like someone’s almost ready for hibernation. It was a squirrel that dropped the acorn. Asking me to pick it up and give it back, I did so. I waved to the squirrel and chittered thanks in return.   
“Huh? What was that just now?” Raeya asked me, curiously.   
“Oh that?” I replied. Raeya nodded.   
“I'm an animal by default, so it would make sense to communicate with animals and beasts,” I responded to her curiosity.   
“It’s more like a default ability.”   
“Wooow...you can communicate with animals!” Raeya reworded what she just heard.   
“Yeah, that.”   
“Show me more of that, if you don’t mind.”   
Surprised, I took it to heart.   
“Why not? I’m curious too.” 

I closed my eyes and adapted my ears to the surroundings of the forest, listening to different critters among the trees, rocks, grass, and unseen areas. A growling sound came from afar in the forest, it came from the grounds below, from a cave entrance not too far away from our location. Using the presence of the mysterious creature from the forest, I expanded my aura through concentration. The creature picked up my presence.   
_Meet me outside the forest-_ I communicated with my aura. The creature roared in the distance.   
“What was that?” Raeya said, shocked.   
“Don’t worry, we’ll know soon who I asked to come,” I responded, opening my eyes.   
It was a long walk getting out of the forest path. Light started to seep into the forest path from the other end, which means we are nearing the exit. As soon as we got there, a creature appeared, sitting on the well I noticed from earlier in my travels.   
“Eek!” Raeya cried, being startled by the creature sitting on the well.   
“That is the Beast of the Forest, a Forestaen Elder,” I told her. The Forestaen Elder resembled a tree-like anamorphic creature. Raeya, surprised, wanted me to converse with the Elder. With my aura tingling, the Elder spoke using telepathy with me. My mind translated what he was saying.

 _(“You…..you’re the first to summon a Beast like me”)_ the Elder telepathically spoke. 

(“ _Who are you?”)_

 _(“I’m Kydel Starr, a Hibryd direwolf”)_ I spoke back. The Elder was intrigued. 

(“ _If you don’t mind, can I see your default form?”)_ The Elder asked curiously. 

I changed back into my direwolf state. Raeya observed. Her presence told me she’s amazed at what I can do with my abilities and powers. The elder observed me with a clear gaze, circling around me. 

_(“You have potential”)_ The elder responded, starting to go back to his place. 

_(“What?”)_ I questioned. The Elder turned around. 

_(“You will learn soon enough as you progress in your journeys”)_ The Elder told me, disappearing back into the forest. 

That being said, the Elder’s presence vanished. Left dazzled, I changed back into my Hibryd form. I went to the well to sit down and Raeya came along.   
“What did you two talk about?” She asked me.   
“The Elder told me I have potential and that I will learn soon enough in my journeys, but I’m still confused on why he said that,” I responded. I was still left dazzled. I wonder what the Forestaen Elder meant.  
“Do you have any idea Zohl?” I asked.   
Zohl, who was listening, perked in.   
“That’s for you to discover, Kydel,” Zohl told me.   
I knew Zohl would say that, though it won’t be easy.   
“Huh….well, show me what else you can do!” Raeya said positively.   
“Alright.” I smiled.   
“You’ve seen a couple for them, morphing and speed,” I said.  
“I’ll show you the rest.”   
I got up and stood next to the well.  
“Flying.”   
I breathed in and out, relaxing my body. I slowly lifted my right leg up, and then my left. Raeya was left amazed as I could fly, just like her, but differently.   
“I’m telekinetically flying,” I explained, turning the glow effect on. It showed a blue outline around me. I noticed a rock nearby, so I gestured my hand and picked up the rock with no effort at all. The glow emitted from the rock as it flew to my hand.   
“Now this is telekinesis.”   
I deactivated my powers and moved on to a few others.   
“Restoration.”   
I walked along the path of the opposite direction and Raeya came along. I located a dirty grass patch and emitted some light over it. The dirty grass patch, once dirty, returned back to it’s fresh, healthy state.   
“Wow, this is amazing,” Raeya said with a surprised tone.   
“You’re powerful alright.”   
“He is truly one of a kind,” Zohl chimed in abruptly.   
“Haha, yeah,” I scoffed sarcastically.   
I got up and stretched my back, relieving it from bending over. A fresh breeze pushed me from behind, telling me to walk. Raeya shrunk down in size and flew along by my side. I looked at her flying around and I suddenly had a question while observing her in that small, tiny state. Her wings were flapping so fast, I couldn’t track it’s speed and beat with my vision’s ability. 

“Hey…,”   
“How fast can you go when you’re small?” I asked her.   
“I really have no idea,” Raeya replied back, flying to me.   
“My wing’s speed is measured in bps, beats per second, so I wouldn’t really know how fast they flap for.”   
“Why don’t we have Zohl measure?” I told her.   
“Good idea!”   
Zohl floated off my necklace’s strings and observed Raeya’s wings.   
  
“Perch on Kydel’s hand, we’ll start from there _,_ ” Zohl told Raeya. I lifted my hand out and let Raeya stand on there.   
“I’ll start a color-initiating sequence as a countdown, and after it hits the green color, I want you to flap as fast as you can for thirty seconds,” Zohl explained.  
Raeya, understanding, waited for Zohl’s signal. Zohl started the color-timer. It blinked red two times, a yellow, one time, and then one green. Raeya started flapping her wings like crazy. The gust from Raeya’s wings brushed down and up from my palm, escaping to the flow of the wind.   
“Times up!” Zohl said. Raeya, breaking no sweat, stopped.   
“Your normal beat per second in your smallest form is around 90-110 beats per seconds. My guess is that if you go Mach 1, you’ll need to require two sonic booms with that form _,_ ” Zohl explained.   
“Oh...now that’s interesting,” Raeya said, thinking about it.  
“I wasn’t aware my wings could go that fast!”   
“Now that’s something new I didn’t know about,” Raeya said sarcastically.   
“All this talk is making me quench for water.”   
Raeya, flying up and to the well that we were at, pulled out a canister from somewhere and scooped up some water into the canister. She put the canister back into somewhere.   
“Huh? What? What the-?”   
“How and where did you pull that canister out from?” I asked her.   
“Magic,” she responded back. 

I didn’t know what else to say, so we both went our way to find CPx3. It was still out and sunny, so we walked for a bit to the direction we were heading. A lot of flowers bloomed on the green fields, animals playing out in broad daylight. Birds flew in the skies and the fluffy clouds above disappeared shortly over time. A lot of travelers appeared, tourists even, as if there was something up ahead that was worth sightseeing. It caught my attention.   
“Excuse me,” I politely said to one of the travelers.   
“Is there something up ahead?”  
“Indeed there is,” the traveler responded.  
“Up ahead lies an ancient crystal that’s stuck to the ground. A lot of people have been trying to mine it out, even prying, but none of those methods work.”  
“Is there some sort of inscription or rule?” I asked the traveler.  
“There is, but it isn’t much,” the traveler said. We both waved bye to the traveler as they headed off the opposite direction we were going for.   
“Want to try it out?” I asked Raeya. She nodded yes.   
Shortly after a while, we arrived at the destination of the scene. There were a lot of people trying to pry the crystal out, some tired, and some, gave up. I walked up to the crystal and observed it. It shined in the sun’s light, emitting an ancient aura. It’s colors were bright and abstract blue and pink. The rock the crystal was wedged in had an inscription of some sort. 

“I can’t read this, can you?” Raeya said looking at the text engraved in the stone.   
I knelt down and observed the text. I tried to decipher it but all I could make out was a few words that I didn’t quite understand or couldn’t comprehend.   
“Let me try _,”_ Zohl said.   
Zohl scanned the inscription. After a few minutes, Zohl was finished.   
“This is what the text says,”   
  
“Heed to those who approach the crystal, for it contains an ancient power that only the strong can destroy.” 

People behind us started whispering to each other about both me and Raeya’s presence. After hearing the message that Zohl said, Raeya wanted to give it a try. Raeya mumbled a magic spell and her hands lit up with a triangle like pattern. She aimed it at the crystal and tried to move it. Using all her might, Raeya’s hand turned into a grip, pulling the aura of the crystal up. But it wouldn’t budge. It simply stayed put. Raeya let out some breaths as the magic faded away.  
“No good. I can’t seem to move it,” Raeya said.   
“That was even my strongest spell.”   
_Strongest spell? Not even one of her strongest powers can lift this thing?_  
I became intrigued. Observing the crystal again, I placed my hand on the ground. Shutting off all my senses except for hearing, I closed my eyes and focused. I shushed the crowd. I focused my hearing into the ground, feeling the vibrations of each living organism. Shifting my focus to the crystal, I heard a heartbeat and sensed a vicious aura.   
“This crystal’s alive. It’s a part of a powerful being. If we destroy the source, we can pry it out the ground,” I spoke towards the crowd, Raeya included.   
“No way!” one of the crowd members said.  
“Even if one of us tries to take on this foe, we couldn’t!” Another crowd member said, admitting to their fault. I scanned the crowd using my eyes. Judging from the aura the crystal was emitting, neither of the members of the crowd can stand up against taking down a powerful foe except for me and Raeya. 

“Kydel, how could you tell?” Raeya asked me.   
“Every being, inanimate or alive, has a heartbeat. That includes crystals too,” I responded.   
“Each object emits an aura, depending on how powerful it is. White is the weakest. Yellow is strong, Pink is supernatural, and Black, the strongest aura of them all.” I explained.   
“That’s interesting,” Raeya said curiously.   
“You can see auras right?” I asked her.   
“Activate your power and tell me what mine is.”   
Raeya, emitting her eyes, saw through me.   
“Your aura's Black,” she told me.  
“Expected as is,” I said. I stared back at the crystal that was stuck to the ground. It’s black aura grew stronger. I smirked.   
“Everyone, stand back,” I warned them. 

I closed my eyes, focusing my aura and energy into my hands. I felt the power surging from my body. It felt like vines growing continuously. Opening my eyes, they lit up with an intense flare, with my aura, extending towards my powers. Manipulating the energy around my body, I telekinetically smashed my hand down into the ground, digging up the crystal from below. I mustered my strength, and managed to break a portion of the ground, grabbing it, and holding it up high. A root was extended from below. It was almost the diameter of a year-old tree.   
“A tail…?"  
I sent a telekinetic zap towards the tail, and as it went coursing through, a sound from the ground below screeched loudly. I covered my ears, dropping the crystal. The screech died down and the ground began to tremble, shaking violently. The crowd began to run away from a safe distance, and Raeya flew towards me. 

What is going on?!” Raeya shouted, trying to talk to me as the sound of the ground grew larger.   
“I don’t know!” I shouted back.   
As the trembles got bigger, a creature plowed out from the ground beneath the forest that was over it. Trees fell off the giant creature, crumbs of soil, falling from the crevices of its hide and wrinkles. The creature screeched once again. It’s scales popped off, with a face of a monster-like appearance. Horns stuck out and it’s big tusks came out from the sides of the mouth. The creature loomed over us, leering. The crowd of people ran into the forest opposite of the creature, scared, while me and Raeya stood in front of it.   
“Man this creature’s big,” I said.   
“Kydel, look at the crystal it has!” Raeya told me. The creature, who emerged from the grounds, had a crystal attached to the center of it’s chest. Not only its tail had a crystal on it, there was one in the center of it’s chest. It was almost the size of a houses’ roof and it bulged out. It’s color emitted everywhere within the vicinity of us. The creature swooped down its huge, heavy arm towards us, smacking me into a tree while Raeya dodged. 

“Kydel!”   
Raeya flew towards me.   
“You okay?!”   
I stood up and popped my back, and then my neck.   
“I’m not going down that easily,” I said, relieving Raeya’s concern. 

* * *

  
As the creature continued to smack it’s surroundings with its’ arms, I casually evaded it’s swings. They were both fast for a heavy giant who was almost as tall as a building. Its’ gleaming eyes glowed and stared right at me, which made me get goosebumps. It seemed to be fixated on me. I mean, after all, I sent a telekinetic jolt.   
“Raeya, distract the giant from hitting me while I go in,” I told her.   
“Okay!”   
With Raeya preparing to shoot magic at the creature, I flew in at full speed towards its neck, morphing my arms into sharp spears. But as I tried to swing, the creature blocked me with its tail. I tried to hold it but the force of collision sent me flying towards the opposite direction. I managed to recover my pattern mid-air. 

_I need to keep its tail from swinging._  
I flew in again but the creature shot a purple like flame out of its mouth. I screamed in pain as the fire burnt my skin. I fell to the ground, smoke rising from my body.   
“You’re burnt!” Raeya said, aiding me with her healing magic. My arms twitched. The flame inflicted on me made me burn as Raeya healed my wounds up.  
“Tch! This foe’s powerful!” I scoffed.   
“Don’t beat yourself up too much,” Raeya told me. I took that into account.   
“Thanks Raeya,” I replied.   
“Raeya, watch out!” 

Jumping into action, I raised my arms up in the air and created a barrier using telekinesis, blocking the attack of the fire, which sent it streaming the opposite directions. The creature then shot out fireballs, fast ones at me and Raeya while my barrier was still active. The blasts were powerful, I couldn’t contain how much longer I could hold the barrier. Time was running out until we were both toast.   
“We need to attack the creature together,” I told Raeya.   
“What’s the plan?” Raeya asked me, as the blasts from the outside of the barrier continued.  
“Buy me time so that I can fire a telekinetic-plasma blast,” I replied to her.   
“Okay!” She said back.   
As I deactivated the barrier, one last fireball was hurled right at us before Raeya could move out of the way.   
“Raeya!”   
I quickly stood in front of her and charged my fist into a telekinetic fist and punched the fireball, sending flames everywhere within the vicinity of the field. The collision between the punch and the fireball created multiple different colors.   
“You alright?” I asked.   
“I’m fine, thanks!” Raeya replied with a smile. Raeya, understanding me, flew up and distracted the monster for the time being, while I flew up and positioned myself far from the monster. Watching Raeya dodge and evade its attacks gave me enough time to form a telekinetic-plasma ball. I got into stance, with my right hand out, open wide. 

I visualized my energy flowing around my body. I closed my eyes and focused my energy into my hand. As soon as the energy coursed through my veins, I opened my eyes, causing them to glow. I mustered the energy, making a small light appear from the center of my hand, floating. As I continued to scrunch my hand, more energy appeared, making the small ball of light become bigger. The air current played as it began to get sucked into the ball of light, becoming bigger and bigger as I focused more into it. I started to fly towards the monster, charging up my attack. The light then turned into plasma, emitting a bright orange color. 

“Raeya, come and attack with me!” I shouted, getting nearer and closer to the monster. 

Raeya flew out of my range and appeared next to me. Within a few yards into the monsters’ vicinity, the ball of telekinetic plasma became bigger. Raeya shot out magic beams, which surrounded the ball of plasma. I turned my hand into my fist, creating a telekinetic glove and punched the ball of plasma along with the magic beams into the monster, causing an enormous explosion, which sent me down to the ground. The explosion from the impact blew up, like the size of a tsunami and knocked out the monster-like creature. The crystal in its chest shattered and the monster spewed out purple blood. It fell backwards.   
“Kydel!” Raeya ran towards me, helping me up.  
“You good?”  
I nodded thanks in return.   
“Yeah, I’m fine.”  
“Let’s go check it out.” 

The people who were hiding came out of the forest and started to talk amongst themselves. Through the damaged ruckus and debris around the area, me and Raeya found our way to the monster that died from the explosion. It laid over dead trees that were torn apart, and a huge crater, visible from where the monster emerged. I flew up and landed right next to the damaged crystals on the monster’s chest.   
“Look at this,” I said to Raeya, picking up a few shards of crystals. I held them up against the sunlight and stared into the crystal. It was mesmerizing. Zohl, flying about and around the area analyzed the crystals.   
“This is dated back 25 million years ago!” Zohl said, alerting us.   
“Really?!” Raeya said surprised.   
“Yes. This could be sold….for millions,” Zohl responded.   
“The inscription from before, ‘Heed to those who approach the crystal, for it contains an ancient power that only the strong can destroy,’ only meant for people who can put up a fight against the monster.”   
I stood there speechless, not knowing what to say.   
“I think I’ll keep a shard,” Raeya said, picking up a small piece of crystal.   
“I’ll go grab the crystal on its tail and infuse it with my powers,” I told her.   
I ran around the body of the monster, reaching the tail that was extended from its hind legs to the farthest tree that was east of it. I telekinetically raised the tail up and popped the crystal off. Meshing it with the energy of my telekinetic properties, it turned into bright condensed light and fused it with my body. With a new source of energy, I felt stronger. The flow of the energy coursed through my veins, causing me to flex and stretch my muscles. I stretched and relaxed my hands, feeling this new sensation of energy in my body. 

“This feels…amazing,” I said.   
“It feels like I’m stronger.”   
I pointed a finger up in the air and condensed my energy into a ball of light. I shot it up into the clouds above me, which exploded, causing a hydrogen-explosion. The explosion made the cloud vaporize and disappear from sight.   
“What should we do with the rest of these?” Raeya asked, pointing to the massive pile of crystals. I walked towards the pile and gazed at it for a while.   
“Let’s give them to the crowd of people,” I responded, telekinetically picking all the pieces up.   
Walking back out to the opening from the opposite direction, people started to give us the cold eye. The piercing gaze I felt sensed no much more like hostility. Setting the pile of crystals on the ground, the atmosphere around the crowd changed a bit.   
“Here, take these,” I said projecting my voice.   
“I have no need for this.”   
“You sure about that?” a person from the crowd asked me.   
“Yes, take them,” I responded with an insisting voice. 

* * *

  
After that small commotion, it was around five in the early-evening. We still have ways to go, and it will take a while to get to CPX3. My stomach was growling, but I had strength left to spare before finding a place to camp for the night.   
“Let’s go foraging for berries!” Raeya told me eagerly.   
“Sure,” I replied to her.   
Walking among the grassy paths, the sun was setting. It’s mystifying colors beamed everywhere in the sky, from the hues of purple to orange. I was distracted by the scene while looking for berries.   
“Raeya, look,” I said to her, gesturing toward the sky.   
“That’s beautiful,” Raeya said looking at the sky. We both stared into the sky, admiring the beautiful colors. This was the very first time we both saw a sunset, together.   
“I’m glad I got to see this pretty sunset with you Kydel,” Raeya said to me with a generous tone.   
“Me too. It makes it better with a friend,” I replied back. Raeya blushed at the compliment.   
A huge berry bush appeared as I walked near some trees. On the branches hung wildberries. I picked some up and determined if they were poisonous. They weren’t.   
“Hey, I found some wildberries,” I told Raeya, holding them in my palm out.   
“Here.”   
Raeya took some out of my hand, and plopped some into her mouth. I plopped a few into my mouth and the taste was savory. The juiciness of the berry covered my mouth, giving me plenty of energy and some extra boost of power. It felt like the berry was melting inside my body. The sun then set in a few minutes, scattering it’s remaining colors before the sky turned into a dark-blue hue.   
“We should find a place to set camp,” I said to Raeya. Raeya and I both left the scene of the sunset and went off to find a place. Crickets began to sing in the distance, cicadas, humming their wings. Along the path we were taking, a small wooden campsite became visible in the distance. We both went towards it and sat down on the stumps that grew out of the ground. I lit up the unlit torch poles for light to surround us. Then the weather around us then shifted temperature, making it somewhat cold. I shook a bit, shivering--but that shouldn’t happen since I’m in a human form.

“Zohl, why can I feel the cold in this form?” I asked him.   
“A human appearance has less layers of skin. If you want, you can revert back to your beast form,” Zohl replied to my question.   
“Oh, okay. I see why,” I said.   
“Raeya, what about you?”   
“I have a fluffy jacket that I can pull out,” Raeya told me, gesturing a magic symbol, pulling out a jacket that has a very furry appearance. She put it on and felt comfortable.   
“Can I feel that white fluffy wool?” I asked her.   
“Sure!” Raeya responded. I went and touched the fluffy parts of her jacket. It felt soft and comfy. It’s almost like I was touching the wool on a sheep.   
“This feels amazing,” I said touching the fluff.   
“But nothing feels better than the fur of my beast form.”   
“Yeah, it feels fluffy!” Raeya said, remembering how we first met. I too remembered how we first met. Raeya was bullied, but I jumped in and ended it. The bond we created together, will remain strong. A cold gust of air interrupted our moment together, making me send a chill down my spine, so I reverted back into my beast form and I felt warmer than usual. The air blew against my fur, only making me warmer since I have multiple layers of them. The sound of the wind blew against the trees, making them swerve, and the stars started to appear in the sky. The moon was faintly out and critters started to make noise. I sat on a log next to Raeya. 

“You’ve been pretty quiet,” Raeya said to me.  
“What are you thinking?”  
I smiled and thought about where my life has taken me. I was a mere beast of Varleqe, and yet somehow, I was chosen to become a Hibryd. I chuckled to myself and let out a sigh.  
“I’m just thinking of where life got me,” I replied to her.  
“I was a mere beast citizen of Varleqe, a supercontinent where I originally came from. But that led to my first home being attacked and ambushed by werecats. I was forced to find a new place after, and I went to a floating island called Hetrania. That’s where I met most of my friends, and also how I achieved this great, enormous power.”   
“Then, I went to Kharphan, to register as a Hibryd citizen. And after that, that was when I first met you, Raeya. Saving you from an unwanted group, you made me realize something--I can’t always rely on power. Friendship is important too. But that got me thinking,"   
"I’ve achieved such great power. I’ve done feats before. I may be strong, I may be powerful, but I am confused on what my role is. Why was I brought to existence? I know you can’t answer that, I don’t expect one.”  
“But I want to ask you….”  
“What am I, to you?” I asked, ending my speech.  
My tone shifted and changed. I was scared. I trembled in fear at what Raeya might answer. I never, ever, had been this open. I feel afraid. Why is that?  
“Who am I to you?”

Raeya, after hearing my ramblings, came next to me and sat down. She patted my head, calming me down. Her touch was soft and gentle.   
"Who are you to me?" Raeya said.  
"I think of you as a friend. The one who cares. The one who puts others first rather than oneself. True, you may be powerful as heck, but that doesn't stop you from worrying for others' safety."  
"The first time I met you, you cared for my well-being. I liked it. It made me realize there's always someone to look out for, no matter _who they are,_ regardless of their race or appearance. This applies to everyone, not just us."  
"Friends help each other right? I want to share this bond and experience with you, no matter the obstacles or challenges it may take."  
"Friends support each other, don't they?" 

I felt relieved.  
Raeya isn’t that kind of person to give a very hard answer. She just went straight to the point, giving me a straightforward answer.   
“You’re not wrong,” I responded.   
“But I fear that if I couldn’t control my powers, I would end up hurting you!”   
I felt shocked when I said that. Raeya, too. I’ve never felt like this before. What is this feeling? I couldn’t control my feelings. I felt...lost.   
“Then make me a promise,” Raeya told me.   
“That you will always come back to me, no matter the consequences.”   
I feared for the worst. Willing to accept the promise with no hesitation and no second thoughts, I responded to her request.   
“Okay. I promise,” I responded with a serious tone.  
“Thanks for letting me rant.”   
  
“Not a problem! That’s what friends are for, right?” Raeya told me, giggling.  
Time passed since I talked about myself, it was nearly seven. I started to feel tired, but not an inch close to sleeping. I wanted to move and do something.   
“I’m itching to move,” I said sarcastically.   
“Want to let some steam out.”   
“How about we spar?” Raeya asked me.   
“Oh? That would be interesting,” I accepted, changing back into my human form.   
“I’ll hold back. I don’t want to injure you.”   
“Don’t worry about that. I can heal both of us!” Raeya said to me.   
“Okay then,” I replied. 

And so, both me and Raeya got ready in an open field near the campsite.   
Getting ready, I punched around Raeya’s vicinity, creating a telekinetic-like energy that trapped Raeya around her attacks. But that didn’t stop Raeya from attacking me. Raeya emitted magic around her body, escaping from the grip of my telekinetic hold, shooting bursts of magic at me. A blast hit near my arm, but I managed to fend it off by dodging. I quickly lunged in and punched Raeya in her arms, blocking my attack. I dodged her incoming strikes and magic bullets while I created a shield to defend myself from them. I then raised my hands up and telekinetically bind Raeya, making her yelp. I tightened my grip, making the force stronger. I ran in, close to her face, and held her by her chin.   
“Had enough yet?” I said, staring into her eyes menacingly.  
“Oh my, so scary,” Raeya said sarcastically, punching me in the stomach. I lost my grip and Raeya flew around me, kicking and punching me even though it wasn’t really effective for me, but I let her have her share of the fun. But in a split second, Raeya gave me a hard blow against the back of my neck, almost sending me to sleep. But I managed to recover. That made me lose myself. I weakly stood up, arms drooped and dangling.  
“Kydel…?” Raeya said, worrying.  
I charged at Raeya, punching her in the stomach, then used telekinesis to bind her in place. I readied my fist and charged up a small plasma blast, and hurled it at Raeya. She managed to fend it off by stopping the impact using her magic. It created an explosion and dust allocated around us. But I quickly blew the dust away with my breath and located Raeya, morphing my hands into iron claws. Raeya, shocked, tried to escape from me but I telekinetically grabbed her down and pulled her toward me. I grabbed her neck and she started to choke. Her eyes were scared. I rammed her into the ground and sat on her, with my left hand holding her, I prepared my right but I was stopped.  
  
“Kydel, stop!” Zohl said, flashing a bright light at me. I jumped back and screeched, unable to control the power I was experiencing. I darted back, trying to regain control, but I couldn’t. My forms started to revert and glitch out, from human to beast. All I heard were my screeches, Zohl, and Raeya.

* * *

  
“You alright?” Zohl asked Raeya, healing her injuries.   
“Thank you,” she replied. Raeya looked towards Kydel, who was spazzing out on the ground. Fear started to show in her eyes.   
“What’s wrong with Kydel?” Raeya asked with a scared tone.  
“Kydel’s experiencing an enormous side-effect of Rage. Rage is a locked power he can’t access, but this is something that needs to be stopped,” Zohl explained.   
“Hurry, we must make haste!”   
Raeya ran towards Kydel, kneeling at a safe distance. Kydel began to hurl some telekinetic waves around his vicinity.   
“Calm him down,” Zohl told her.   
“I don’t know if I can!” Raeya said dramatically.   
“What if I hurt him?!”   
“You won’t. I know you won’t,” Zohl said seriously.   
“If anything I have learned between you two, it’s that Kydel can _trust_ you.” 

Raeya, cautiously approaching Kydel placed her hand on his head, emitting a bright glow that lit up the area of their surroundings. With the light shining against Kydel’s head, Kydel began to calm down. After a few minutes, he was asleep in his beast form.

* * *

  
My mind was feeling heavy, I didn’t know what had happened yesterday. I felt the warmth of the sun hit against my face, waking up to it. I felt sluggish. I weakly got up from the ground that was next to the campfire and noticed that I was back in my human form. It was around 10 in the morning, judging from the shadow that I was casting onto the ground from the sun.   
“Raeya?” I said weakly, covering my eyes against the bright surroundings.   
As I got up and sat onto the stumps, I fumbled around the area with my hand. I hit a metal feeling, a bucket. I put my hand in there and happened to hit a cold sensation of water. I splashed some water onto my face to clean myself. Rubbing my eyes, I opened them once again. It was quiet and Raeya wasn’t around. Zohl wasn’t here either. Zohl doesn’t ever leave my side, but this was a first. My ears twitched as I heard footsteps in the distance, and some flapping noises? I collected my thoughts and remembered what had happened last night.

“Oh look, Kydel’s awake,” a falcon said, flying towards me. Raeya caught up holding some grubs in her arms, including a huge prey that she caught.  
“Zohl, is that you?” I asked.  
“Yes, it’s me!” Zohl said.   
“I thought about having a form of a Falcon, since us spirits have animal counterparts. So I switched into the form of a Falcon.”   
Zohl in his Falcon form had bright yellow eyes, a sharp powerful beak, and fur covered in colors of white, black, and orange, in a patterned style. Zohl perched on my shoulder.   
“Arrrg yee, a pirate I say!” I said imitating a pirate’s speech. Zohl laughed.   
“I got us some food,” Raeya said, putting them down onto the stump. There were heaps of food, from berries, mushrooms, and fish.   
“Thanks Raeya, for calming me down last night,” I said sincerely.   
“I didn’t know what had happened.”   
“Sorry.”   
“You don’t need to apologize, Kydel,” Raeya said, gesturing towards me.   
“Sure, I may have been scared, but I stepped up and took the risk to help you out.”   
Raeya took my hand and held it. I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t. Raeya’s soft touch and gentle words made me break a tear, but I held back. I wouldn’t want Raeya to see me crying like this.   
“Here, take some roasted fish,” Raeya said sarcastically, killing the mood.  
“You’ll need strength.”   
  
“Thanks,” I replied back, taking it from her hand. I chomped down into the fish and got up, stretching my arms and legs. Raeya stored some of the food she collected into her magic pocket. Zohl flew around, tree to tree. Thinking back to last night on how I couldn’t control my power made me fear myself. I finished eating, went to Raeya and hugged her for the first time.   
“What’s wrong?” Raeya asked me out of concern, touching my arms that were around her.   
I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t want to. But something told me to speak.  
“I just need a hug,” I replied to her softly, hugging her gently. Raeya wore a gentle smile and stayed silent, understanding what I’ve been through the past few moments, including last night. Zohl flew back, perching on my shoulder, returning to his pendant form. With the sun still out, we decided to continue our way to CPX3. Leaving the campsite, we walked along the path that led north, admiring the nature that was around us. Turns and curves, up and froth, the path unwind as it curled around the forest trees, where a faint sight of CPX3 could be seen. 

“Wow, would you look at that,” I said, gazing out into the distance. Tall buildings rocketed over the skies, built with metal, technology, and magic. Cars of a futuristic look zoomed all over the streets, and blimps flew over the buildings. CPX3 spanned to the ranges of the mountains and hills in the back, east to the continent border of Uexeria, and stretched to the border of Uexeria’s desert on the west. There were lots of machines that stood high and mighty, and a building that reached the clouds in the center of the city.   
“Well then, why don’t we find a place to stay there for a bit?” I asked Raeya.   
“Sure!” She responded.  
The hint and smell of the flowers' aroma filled our noses, the wind, brushing past us. The sun was up and shining bright, sending it's godrays everywhere. Birds chirped in the distance, flying around and about, twittering with each other, and the songs of their language.   
Thus, we walked along the path, where it led us to the gates of the great city, CPX3.


End file.
